Healthwatch Sheffield hosted an event this week on Long Covid Awareness Day to raise awareness for the condition.
The event took place in the Circle, on Thursday morning, with around 30 people showing up to meet others with Long Covid and learn more about it.
On the day there were presentations, educational videos, and stalls from different organisations such as the Long Covid Rehab Hub, as well as a brunch for attendees.
The events is a part of Healthwatch and Voluntary Action Sheffield’s collaborative work over the past 18 months looking at the impact of Long Covid on Sheffield’s communities.
Lucy Davies, Chief Officer of Healthwatch Sheffield, said: “This is an important area of work because Long Covid is a complex and often misunderstood condition.
“Services have had to adapt their support offer rapidly as more is learned about the symptoms and their impact on people’s mental and physical health, relationships and social life, and their work.”
The group wants to focus on communities who are less likely to be accessing support, and develop local information for them while being inclusive.
Specifically, they are focusing on Sheffield’s diverse communities in this project; groups who were disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and yet are under-represented in Long Covid support services.
Mrs Davies said: “People being referred to the Sheffield Long Covid Rehabilitation Service by their GP are overwhelmingly white, mostly female, and living in less deprived areas of the city.”
The Healthwatch staff said they are willing to take feedback and hear about communities where they could be campaigning.
Mrs Davies added the Long Covid Community Grant helps makes events like this possible by funding leaflets, videos and training materials in easy read formats, in a variety of community languages, including Urdu and Somali.
The group is now holding stage three of their community grant until March 18 which funds community organisations to distribute Long Covid information resources.
If you would like to apply or access the resources online for free click here.
