Long Covid
Feature
One stitch at a time
Occupational therapist Stella Daniels reflects on her Long Covid recovery journey and her use of a personally meaningful artistic medium , in the hope that by sharing her narrative she can support others both professionally and personally .
A s an occupational therapist profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic , I stitched together an appliquéd quilt to create a patchwork picture of therapeutic concepts relating to the virus .
In the summer of 2020 , I was one of many brand-new occupational therapy graduates enthusiastic to help the NHS during this unprecedented healthcare crisis .
Three years previously , when my cohort received our first lecture at Cardiff University , we were told that our training would forever impact how we would experience our own healthcare treatments . I had no way of knowing then that not only would I graduate during a global pandemic , but that I would become infected and be acutely unwell .
My dissertation had considered how the personal motivations that inspired people to train as occupational therapists may also sustain them in their professional practice . Participants described how overcoming challenges during training further enhanced both those individual career narratives and their own resilience .
Those concepts took on a new significance for me when I went on to develop Long Covid as a newly-qualified practitioner .
Despite expecting to return to work quickly , I was repeatedly set back by resurging symptoms and debilitating fatigue . Overnight , my life unravelled from that of a full-time occupational therapist , volunteer and active parent of three , to struggling to simply shower and dress .
My frustration at this profound loss of roles was exacerbated by the isolation of lockdown and the difficulties identifying and obtaining treatments for this new condition .
Wanda , an occupational therapist colleague working in the Long Covid Support Hub , suggested I begin a personally meaningful project to utilise my creativity and bring structure and manageable activity into my daily life .
During a forensic placement I had learnt from patients ’ ceramic murals about their own recovery journeys . As a qualified practitioner I had created displays with my manager Sally , which used tree images to depict therapeutic processes in our acute adult mental health inpatient setting .
My daughter Rosalie had become interested in sewing during lockdown , reminding me of a long-standing interest in creating a quilt to depict a story or message . As a relative sewing novice , this introduced a new , but feasible challenge , which restored some of my sense of self .
I began to imagine creating a double-sided quilt which used the fictional world of Harry Potter to highlight Long Covid recovery challenges and solutions and raise awareness of this condition from an occupational perspective .
This stimulated my creative thought processes when I was confined to bed , with each small sewing element added over subsequent months as my recovery progressed .
The quilt itself depicted internal and external scenes of the magical castle boarding school where the fictional series is based . As I incorporated fabric scraps and specialist fabric ordered online , the quilt developed through interactions between my imagination and available materials .
I stitched various items to the quilt that could be removed and opened , which introduced tactile ways to engage with the quilt . Overall , nearly 40 separate elements each symbolised a different issue , some of which will be described here , which powerfully represented both the extent of the challenges and the range of therapies which may help .
Inside the castle , one stained glass window depicted four houses or groups into which pupils were placed according to their individual traits , such as loyalty , academia , ambition or bravery . This represented the need for a personalised recovery plan to utilise each person ’ s strengths and interests .
Around the windows are flying keys , conjured by teachers to protect a precious stone , where only the right key would unlock the way forward . My own recovery included unlocking the personally
42 OTnews November 2022