The pandemic has had significant consequences for surviving patients, both physical and emotional. However, little analysis has thus far been undertaken of the interplay between the social and physical circumstances that patients face following discharge from intensive care units. Although the healthcare-based perspective is primarily focused on understanding the physiological aspects of COVID-19, this Research Topic aims to capture and highlight the different ways patients have been reintegrated into society and the support they have received from medical professionals and local health services after intensive care. Here it seeks to address the care of patients after discharge via a global approach to the person, taking into account the intertwining of personal conditions with community and contextual ones.
This Research Topic offers an opportunity for researchers to discuss, on the basis of the wealth of data now available, the factors affecting patient distress and recovery opportunities, in order to best ensure that the consequences of the pandemic do not turn into chronic injuries.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of the topic between medicine, sociology, social assistance and psychology, we strongly encourage the submission of transdisciplinary articles, in order to reach a fuller understanding of the complexity of the present situation. Themes may include, but are not limited to:
• Physician-patient communication dynamics and their influence on patients' perception of their quality of life before, during, and after intensive care.
• Whether and to what extent there is continuity between hospital and community care to support patients after discharge.
• The emotional paths of patients following hospital discharge, and the changes triggered by the experience.
• Patients’ reintegration into society and the support provided to enable this.
• The ways in which patients have sought to restore their physical, social, and mental well-being, and the obstacles to healing they have faced.
• The ways in which the health system has responded to these newly established needs, - above all the need to re-insert patients into the social landscape and help them re-integrate into a society that has changed drastically following the pandemic. Does this also call for a new role for sociologists in reflecting on these challenges?
• The well-being of healthcare personnel who have experienced the pandemic, and the associated impact on the quality of patient care.
• The transformation of medical processes related to intensive care during the pandemic.
• The use of new interactive models during the pandemic and the impact of technological progress on sociological studies.
The pandemic has had significant consequences for surviving patients, both physical and emotional. However, little analysis has thus far been undertaken of the interplay between the social and physical circumstances that patients face following discharge from intensive care units. Although the healthcare-based perspective is primarily focused on understanding the physiological aspects of COVID-19, this Research Topic aims to capture and highlight the different ways patients have been reintegrated into society and the support they have received from medical professionals and local health services after intensive care. Here it seeks to address the care of patients after discharge via a global approach to the person, taking into account the intertwining of personal conditions with community and contextual ones.
This Research Topic offers an opportunity for researchers to discuss, on the basis of the wealth of data now available, the factors affecting patient distress and recovery opportunities, in order to best ensure that the consequences of the pandemic do not turn into chronic injuries.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of the topic between medicine, sociology, social assistance and psychology, we strongly encourage the submission of transdisciplinary articles, in order to reach a fuller understanding of the complexity of the present situation. Themes may include, but are not limited to:
• Physician-patient communication dynamics and their influence on patients' perception of their quality of life before, during, and after intensive care.
• Whether and to what extent there is continuity between hospital and community care to support patients after discharge.
• The emotional paths of patients following hospital discharge, and the changes triggered by the experience.
• Patients’ reintegration into society and the support provided to enable this.
• The ways in which patients have sought to restore their physical, social, and mental well-being, and the obstacles to healing they have faced.
• The ways in which the health system has responded to these newly established needs, - above all the need to re-insert patients into the social landscape and help them re-integrate into a society that has changed drastically following the pandemic. Does this also call for a new role for sociologists in reflecting on these challenges?
• The well-being of healthcare personnel who have experienced the pandemic, and the associated impact on the quality of patient care.
• The transformation of medical processes related to intensive care during the pandemic.
• The use of new interactive models during the pandemic and the impact of technological progress on sociological studies.