“Having recently finished my 12-week programme with KiActiv® I am filled with optimism for my future. I would recommend KiActiv® to others who have been affected by Long Covid”
Julie, 60, Long Covid
Julie’s thoughts on KiActiv® Health
“Having recently finished my 12-week programme with KiActiv® I am filled with optimism for my future. I took on board my mentors’ advice and it was so helpful to use the tools on the dashboard. Seeing where changes (however small) could be made to my everyday life, through both exercise and rest was amazing. I am looking forward to new goals being set. My mental health and physical health have improved, which has been noticed by all my friends and family. I would recommend KiActiv® to others who have been affected by Long Covid.”
Julie’s Story
Julie came to KiActiv® looking to manage her Long COVID symptoms. She started her journey with us on a positive note and was surprised to see how much activity she was actually doing. She noted that she was suffering from feeling very tired in the afternoons, going on to explain how she would complete a task and then have to rest for a prolonged period due to the fatigue she was experiencing. This was taking a toll on her mental health as she was experiencing a wave of negative emotions, a common symptom associated with Long COVID.
Julie found the personalised online dashboard valuable to see her day-by-day activity and started to improve her awareness regarding how to incorporate a manageable level of activity into her life daily life without overdoing it, in order to combat her high levels of fatigue. Being able to see and interact with her objective physical activity data gave Julie the much-needed reassurance that she was moving more than she thought. This began to have a positive impact on her wellbeing as she “hate[s] the thought of
exercise”.
Julie’s levels of self-efficacy improved throughout the programme, from ‘moderately confident’ to ‘very confident’ and her mental wellbeing also improved. Additionally, she was able to substantially improve her quality of life over the course of the programme, as demonstrated by a 3-point increase in WHOQoL-Bref combined score, whereby a 0.876-point increase is considered clinically meaningful. These self-reported health benefits were achieved as a result of an improved understanding of how to pace her everyday physical activity, which included having a necessary period of rest prior to a planned period of higher activity levels.
Julie has discovered that it is very important to rest when necessary – just by having a 20-minute rest during the day, she feels able to be more active in the evening, allowing her to enjoy her time with her family. Family and friends have commented on how far she has come and she can feel the benefits herself. Ultimately, she was left feeling “more positive now than 12-weeks ago” after finishing the initial 12-week programme.
Participating in the KiActiv® Health programme had an overwhelmingly positive impact on Julie, her quality of life, mental wellbeing, self-efficacy and overall fatigue burden, which has set her up for a happier future with a more detailed understanding and awareness of how she can leverage her everyday physical activity to improve her overall health.
