Clinician perspectives on Long-COVID physical rehabilitation: challenges, uncertainty, and semantics.

Reeves, JM; McNab, J; Spencer, LM; Tsai, L-L; Baillie, AJ; Alison, JA

Clinician perspectives on Long-COVID physical rehabilitation: challenges, uncertainty, and semantics.

Reeves, JM McNab, J Spencer, LM Tsai, L-L Baillie, AJ Alison, JA

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Publisher:: Taylor & Francis
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Disabil Rehabil, 2026, ahead-of-print, (ahead-of-print), pp. 1-16
Issue Date:: 2026-06-04

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Reeves, JM
dc.contributor.author	McNab, J
dc.contributor.author	Spencer, LM
dc.contributor.author	Tsai, L-L
dc.contributor.author	Baillie, AJ
dc.contributor.author	Alison, JA
dc.date.accessioned	2026-07-14T07:37:35Z
dc.date.available	2026-07-14T07:37:35Z
dc.date.issued	2026-06-04
dc.identifier.citation	Disabil Rehabil, 2026, ahead-of-print, (ahead-of-print), pp. 1-16
dc.identifier.issn	0963-8288
dc.identifier.issn	1464-5165
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/195655
dc.description.abstract	PURPOSE: To understand the perspectives of clinicians who provided rehabilitation services to people with Long-COVID or referred people to such services. METHODS: Clinicians involved with Long-COVID rehabilitation were recruited via email and interviewed. Recruitment continued until thematic saturation on physical rehabilitation approaches was reached. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, deidentified, and transcribed. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes from codes. RESULTS: Twenty-one clinicians were interviewed about their perceptions of Long-COVID rehabilitation. Clinicians were physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, clinical psychologists, respiratory physicians, rehabilitation physicians, an infectious disease physician, and a general practitioner. Four overarching themes were identified. (1) "Long-COVID is hard to characterise," including Subtheme 1.1 "Naming Long-COVID: opinions and impacts of differing terminology"; and 1.2 "Framing Long-COVID: one syndrome, experienced as many." (2) "Challenges of diagnosis in a novel condition." (3) "Management of a novel condition - Who knows what to do?" (4) "Exercise therapy is complex," including Subtheme 4.1 "Graded exercise therapy - semantic discordance despite alignment in approach" and 4.2 "Clinicians question public opposition to exercise." CONCLUSION: Clinicians described Long-COVID as a heterogenous condition which challenges traditional rehabilitation frameworks. This study highlights how uncertainty with rehabilitation methods leads to fragmented approaches to rehabilitation and inconsistencies in care.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	Taylor & Francis
dc.relation.ispartof	Disabil Rehabil
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/09638288.2026.2682998
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	11 Medical and Health Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Rehabilitation
dc.subject.classification	32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
dc.subject.classification	42 Health sciences
dc.subject.classification	44 Human society
dc.title	Clinician perspectives on Long-COVID physical rehabilitation: challenges, uncertainty, and semantics.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	ahead-of-print
utslib.location.activity	England
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/School of Clinical and Health Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2026-07-14T07:37:34Z
pubs.issue	ahead-of-print
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	ahead-of-print
utslib.citation.issue	ahead-of-print

Abstract:

PURPOSE: To understand the perspectives of clinicians who provided rehabilitation services to people with Long-COVID or referred people to such services. METHODS: Clinicians involved with Long-COVID rehabilitation were recruited via email and interviewed. Recruitment continued until thematic saturation on physical rehabilitation approaches was reached. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, deidentified, and transcribed. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes from codes. RESULTS: Twenty-one clinicians were interviewed about their perceptions of Long-COVID rehabilitation. Clinicians were physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, clinical psychologists, respiratory physicians, rehabilitation physicians, an infectious disease physician, and a general practitioner. Four overarching themes were identified. (1) "Long-COVID is hard to characterise," including Subtheme 1.1 "Naming Long-COVID: opinions and impacts of differing terminology"; and 1.2 "Framing Long-COVID: one syndrome, experienced as many." (2) "Challenges of diagnosis in a novel condition." (3) "Management of a novel condition - Who knows what to do?" (4) "Exercise therapy is complex," including Subtheme 4.1 "Graded exercise therapy - semantic discordance despite alignment in approach" and 4.2 "Clinicians question public opposition to exercise." CONCLUSION: Clinicians described Long-COVID as a heterogenous condition which challenges traditional rehabilitation frameworks. This study highlights how uncertainty with rehabilitation methods leads to fragmented approaches to rehabilitation and inconsistencies in care.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/195655