Long Covid patients see ‘lasting improvements’ after cognitive rehabilitation therapy

Posed by model. Credit: iStock/cyano66

By Jane Kirby, PA Media

A long Covid rehabilitation programme where patients set small, achievable goals, shows "sustained improvements" to processing speed and their ability to achieve tasks, a study suggests.

A randomised clinical trial found a 10-week programme breaking down tasks into bite-size chunks helped people with issues such as cognitive impairment, commonly known as ‘brain fog'.

Many of the patients in the study, led by University College London (UCL), set goals that related to getting back to work or being more efficient at work.

Experts said this is the first treatment that has had a clinically meaningful and lasting benefit for the cognitive difficulties associated with long Covid.

In each of the weeks, patients received a video call lasting an hour where a therapist helped them set and achieve their goals.

For the first three weeks, people worked on a personal goal, such as reading a book for 20 minutes three times a week.