In our first episode of the Covid Matters podcast, Dr Nisreen Alwan MBE speaks to us about Long Covid: what it is, the communal ignorance surrounding it and the long battle ahead.

Produced by covid:aid, the UK’s new national COVID-19 charity, this is a regular podcast presented by charity founder Michael MacLennan in which experts speak to us about the key issues facing those affected by the pandemic. Our first guest is also one of the first appointees for covid:aid’s Expert Advisory Panel, helping guide the charity in the right direction.

Nisreen is an Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Southampton and an Honorary Consultant in Public Health at University Hospital Southampton. Dr Alwan’s research area is maternal and child health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has focused on the recognition and the quantification of morbidity from COVID19, having initiated the call to Count ‘Long COVID’.&nbsp;

She was awarded an MBE for services to Medicine and Public Health during the pandemic in the 2021 Queen’s New Year Honours. She was also named&nbsp;in the BBC 100 Women 2020 list.


Dr Nisreen Alwan MBE on the battle to count Long Covid

Produced by covid:aid, the UK’s new national COVID-19 charity, Covid Matters is a regular podcast in which experts speak to us about the key issues facing those affected by the pandemic. We are delighted to welcome Dr Nathalie MacDermott&nbsp;to the show. She’s a clinical doctor and academic researcher at King's College London, sub-specialising in paediatric infectious diseases in the NHS. She also has significant experience in medical response to disaster and epidemic situations in Africa and Asia.&nbsp;

Nathalie has been living with Long Covid since 2020, and has spoken publicly and powerfully about the long-term effects. Here’s an article she wrote for The Conversation in May 2021: https://theconversation.com/i-went-from-regular-tv-commentator-on-covid-to-long-covid-sufferer-in-just-a-few-months-158331

If you haven’t heard of us,&nbsp;covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help.&nbsp;

By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs.

We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visit covidaidcharity.org&nbsp;


Dr Nathalie MacDermott on her experience with Long Covid – and her efforts to understand its effects on children

For this episode of Covid Matters I was extremely fortunate to speak to Doctor Dean Burnett. He’s a neuroscientist, lecturer, author, blogger, podcaster, pundit, science communicator, comedian and numerous other things – and most recently he has written Psycho-Logical.

In the book he reveals what is actually going on in our brains when we suffer mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and addiction. Having listened in audiobook format I found his insights fascinating and personally helpful. It was great to find out more about his thoughts on how the lockdown has affected us, and to get a better understanding of how knowledge of how our brains work can be helpful. We also discussed how he had been personally affected, as well as what his goals with the book were –&nbsp;and what he’s planning next. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

If you haven’t heard of us,&nbsp;covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help.&nbsp;

By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs.

We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visit covidaidcharity.org&nbsp;

Psycho-Logical: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong – and How to Make Sense of It is now available in paperwork at Waterstones, Amazon, and elsewhere, and also as an Audible audiobook

What’s been going on with our brains during lockdown? Neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett on how to make sense of mental health issues

The importance of sharing our own stories cannot be underestimated, and it was for that reason that it was so uplifting to speak to Ed Richardson from the Covid-19 Recovery Collective about their work. A collaboration between the technologist and his friend Jane Ireson, an NHS nurse and researcher, they set up a website which invited visitors to submit tales of their own experiences.

As you can find on their website what came was a wide variety of stories which also reflected similarities and provided reassurance to people at times when there was considerable uncertainty about Covid-19 and the Long Covid symptoms that were being reported by many. Through funding from Sheffield Hospitals Charity research has been taking place this year to perform a thematic analysis of the stories, identifying common themes and helping shape insight into what recovery from Covid looks like for different people. It was inspiring to speak to Ed about the work that he, Jane, and others have been doing, and if you haven’t already I’d recommend taking a look at the stories they have shared: https://covid19-recovery.org/


The importance of telling our own stories of life with coronavirus – a conversation with the Covid-19 Recovery Collective

As a former consultant occupational physician, Clare Rayner has raised awareness of the need for employers to be educated about Long Covid and to take it seriously –&nbsp;and battled tirelessly for the rights of those living with the disease to be treated fairly, despite herself suffering debilitating and devastating long-term effects as a result of coronavirus. We spoke to her for podcast Covid Matters to find out more about occupational health as it relates to Covid-19 – and about her own experiences.

Clare was an Honorary Lecturer at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, and worked as a Trainer for the National Education Project for Health and Work. Clare talks with first-hand experience of Covid-19 and has written several papers on the condition including editorials on returning to work after Long Covid, leaflets for workers and employers published by Society of Occupational Medicine, and a recent consensus document on management of Long Covid. She addressed the WHO as a spokesperson for patient groups with post-Covid health issues.

Here are some links to articles/work featuring Clare:

The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) –&nbsp;Urgent need for occupational health for people with Long COVID: https://www.som.org.uk/sites/som.org.uk/files/SOM_Long_COVID_press_release_28_June_21.pdfWe have heard your message about long covid and we will act, says WHO: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/09/03/we-have-heard-your-message-about-long-covid-and-we-will-act-says-who/Promises of Long Covid support have not materialised (a blog by Clare Rayner): https://www.pslhub.org/learn/coronavirus-covid19/273_blogs/promises-of-long-covid-support-have-not-materialised-a-blog-by-clare-rayner-r4499/
If you haven’t heard of us,&nbsp;covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help. By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs. We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visit&nbsp;covidaidcharity.org&nbsp;


What’s been going on with our brains during lockdown? Neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett on how to make sense of mental health issues

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