The wide prevalence of Post-COVID, particularly with neurological and neuropsychiatric complications, has provided an unmet medical need of rising concern and potentially unprecedented long-term consequences for societal well-being and sustainability of healthcare systems. This is only further compounded by the potential risk of virus and inflammation-induced neurodegeneration that could lead to an additional disease burden.
The social sciences and humanities framework within NeuroCOV will address social aspects of NeuroCOVID. We will specifically zoom in on the psycho-social vulnerabilities and possible forms of discrimination affecting NeuroCOVID patients. This will increase sensitivity towards the societal factors that may detract from the well-being of NeuroCOVID patients, thus strengthening inclusiveness in pandemic preparedness. Furthermore, by better informing political stakeholders, they will be able to establish more effective policies to tackle social predicaments caused by NeuroCOVID. Finally, the full integration of Social Sciences and Humanities within NeuroCOV will ensure that key ethical and regulatory issues are appropriately considered.
NeuroCOV has identified the LongCOVID community as one of the major stakeholders for communication and will actively interact with the community throughout the duration of the project. NeuroCOV will customise messages to each stakeholder group, including the LongCOVID community, to ensure maximum impact of communication. NeuroCOV will actively collaborate with Patient Advisory Groups to bring patients and the public together with healthcare professionals.