Covid Matters

This special episode of Covid Matters was recorded as part of a Live Q&A on our Covid-19 Support Community. We speak to Gemma Sewell, the co-founder of Parents United UK, a grassroots, parent-led support groupcampaigning for a sensible, safe and sustainable approach to education during the pandemic. We talk about recommended Covid safety measures to help #MakeSchoolsSafe, including the importance of masks, ventilation and reducing class sizes and how these adjustments could, in turn, #ProtectOurCommunities.This conversation includes questions from our covid:aid community. You can join our Covid-19 Support Community to take part upcoming events like this, and receive advice, support and information on a range of Covid-related topics, here: https://community.covidaidcharity.org/Find us on social media @covidaidcharity or by visiting our website: https://covidaidcharity.org/Find out more about Parents United on their website: https://www.parentsunited.org.uk/ , on Twitter @Parents_Utd or join their Facebook Group, Parents United UK

In this episode of Covid Matters we talk to Dr Emily Harrop, a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Cardiff University who specialises in palliative care. She is currently working as the Co-Principal Investigator in the national ‘Bereavement During Covid-19’ study, looking into people’s experiences of bereavement and the support services they have access to during the coronavirus pandemic. We spoke to Emily to find out more about this study and the findings so far.At the time of recording, Emily was beginning to analyse the first round of responses from the 7 month survey. She explains that a particular challenge in their method of study is that the situation is ongoing, and restrictions are changeable. She said, “it's strange, because you have to also take into account the changing context. Some people’s loved ones will have died in full lockdown, others have experienced death during a period where things had opened-up again. So, we’ve had to take that into account when looking at the results and analysis.”Emily also reminds us of the sad reality of the situation when looking at the statistics – that no one in this study ends up better off. “It's been a terrible time for everyone so I don't want to try and make out that it's been better for some groups than others. The overriding message is that it's been such a tough time for all people who've lost family members during the pandemic.”You can find out more about the Bereavement During Covid-19 study here.Find covid:aid on social media @covidaidcharity or on our website at: https://covidaidcharity.org/You can listen to Covid Matters on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Acast, and wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Music by Asepirawan20 from Pixabay

This special episode of Covid Matters was recorded as part our first live Q&A hosted on the Covid-19 Support Community. We speak to Sarah Oakley, the executive director of AbScent, a UK charity that supports people with smelling disorders. We talk about how those with Long Covid have been severely affected by smelling disorders and learn more about how smell training might help to speed up recovery. This conversation includes questions from our covid:aid community. You can join our Covid-19 Support Community to take part in live Q&As and receive advice, support and information on a range of topics relating to Covid-19. https://community.covidaidcharity.org/Find us on social media @covidaidcharity or by visiting our website: https://covidaidcharity.org/Read more about AbScent via their website : https://abscent.org/We hope you enjoy this episode!

In this episode of Covid Matters we speak to Dr Fatima Husain, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) about how the Covid vaccines affect fertility, pregnancy and postpartum maternity.Many women are still unsure when considering the safety of Covid vaccines before, during, and after pregnancy. Reasons for this may include: the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)’sadvice changing earlier this year, stories circulating abouta spike proteinin the vaccine which attacks the placenta, or the belief that it’s safer to wait until after the baby is born – as is the case withthe MMR vaccine. However, this kind of reasoning against having a Covid vaccination has been disproven and the advice from healthcare professionals including the NHS, the RCOG and the JCVI is consistent:vaccines are safeif you’re planning to have a baby, you’re pregnant or you’re breastfeeding.It’s worrying then that women remain hesitant, especially when data from the NHS shows thatone fifth of the most critically ill patientswith Covid are pregnant women who have not been vaccinated. So, we opened the mic to our audience on social media to raise their concerns with an expert and find answers they can trust.

In the latest episode of Covid Matters we find out about the LISTEN Project, which recently received more than £1 million in funding from the National Institute for Health Research and is co-led by Professor Fiona Jones –who spoke to us about the work getting underway.She is the Professor of Rehabilitation Research at St George's University of London and Kingston University, and the founder and CEO of 'Bridges self-management’.In recognition that each person with Long Covid can experience markedly different symptoms, the LISTEN project will work in partnership with patients to design and evaluate a package of self-management support that can be tailored to individual needs.The researchers will first work with people living with or recovered from Long Covid, plus a social enterprise with expertise in reaching seldom heard populations, to design the package and associated patient and training resources.The team will then test the self-management package alongside up to six one-to-one virtual coaching sessions from trained rehabilitation practitioners, to test whether the treatment improves how people with Long Covid feel and how they cope with everyday activities. The researchers will also evaluate how the package could be implemented more widely, with the aim that self-management for people with Long Covid can be delivered at scale.I spoke to Fiona in detail about this work – and I hope you find our conversation as fascinating as I did. You can find a blog from Fiona on our website: https://covidaidcharity.org/And the LISTEN Project Twitter page is here: https://twitter.com/TheLISTENproj

In the latest episode of Covid Matters we speak to Anna Lyons and Louise Winter, the founders of Life. Death. Whatever. - an initiative that encourages open dialogue about all matters related to death and dying. We discuss their experiences of the impact Covid-19 has had on the funeral industry, grief, and end-of-life conversations –and their new book We All Know How This Ends.The funeral industry faced enormous challenges when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. This had a significant effect on everyone who has lost a loved one since the start of the pandemic, as well as impacting heavily on those who work in the industry.The founders of Life. Death. Whatever. are Louise Winter, a funeral director and Anna Lyons, an end-of-life doula. They have seen first-hand the challenges faced due to limited contact with the grieving and those at the end of their life, as well as trauma faced by families and friends when deaths have come suddenly, with no time to prepare or come to terms with loss. Anna and Louise believe that speaking about death and dying, and sharing experiences, is vital to allow people to feel supported, and less alone in their grief.We discuss with Anna and Louise the effect Covid-19 has had on the work they do individually and that of Life. Death. Whatever. We also asked them about We All Know How This Ends, their new book dealing with everything related to death and dying. They talk about how important it was to review and rewrite sections of the book to reflect the changes imposed by the pandemic, to allow them to provide people with the ongoing support and resources that will be needed in the wake of Covid-19.You can listen to Covid Matters on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Acast, and wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Find more about Anna and Louise’s work at the Life. Death. Whatever. website, where you can also find details on how and where to purchase We All Know How This Ends