Light at the End of the Tunnel: Lived Experiences of Covid-19 Survivors in Ilocos Sur, Philippines

Abstract

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological qualitative study is to provide an in-depth understanding, description, and interpretation of the disease experiences of COVID-19 survivors. The participants were the nine patients discharged from the different hospitals after receiving treatments from the intensive care units and covid wards. Data were collected through individual in-depth face-to-face and virtual interviews until data saturation were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. Six main themes and 15 subthemes emerged: the main themes include: reactions while waiting for the COVID-19 test results, the physical and mental effects of COVID-19, adherence to the treatment and management in the hospital, treatment of hospital staff to their patients, support systems, and coping mechanisms of COVID-19 survivors. Understanding the patient's disease signs and symptoms should serve as a basis for developing medications and treatments for COVID patients. They should adopt the coping mechanisms presented in this study because it may help them recover, as proven by the survivors. Further study is also recommended in a wider and broader scope.