Body Politic

COVID-19 Support Group:

The Body Politic global COVID-19 support group for patients is housed on Slack, where users can chat 24/7 in discussion channels based on topic or community.

COVID-19 can be isolating - both physically and socially. Sometimes friends, family, employers, and even healthcare providers struggle to understand the patient experience. The Body Politic COVID-19 Support Group helps people living with COVID-19 through:

1) Resources: Our channel topics range from testing to mental health issues to financial and legal issues, and much more.

2) Opportunities to connect across borders: The group serves 8K patients around the world, and is quickly growing!

3) Arming against medical bias: Black, Indigenous & People of color, women, LGBTQ+ folks and other groups sometimes experience medical bias when they seek care. In addition to offering emotional support and validation, users in the support group exchange tips on how to navigate medical bias, become your own patient advocate, and be taken seriously.

4) Understanding symptoms: Discussion channels exist for every system of the body, so users can discuss symptoms that are neurological, circulatory, gastrointestinal, renal, and much more, and receive essential validation that they are not alone.

5) Analyzing global guidelines: Because the group serves a global population, users have access to COVID-19 guidelines from around the world. Access to broader recommendations can be very helpful for determining your own guidelines and boundaries.

The support group is open to:

People with COVID-19 symptoms
People who are still healing from COVID-19
People who have recovered from COVID-19
People taking care of loved ones with COVID-19
Asymptomatic and symptomatic people who have tested positive for COVID-19 (you do not need to have tested positive to join the group)

I'm a patient, how do I join?

If you have tested positive, are experiencing symptoms, or are recovering from COVID-19, you can sign up for our support group here. We just need to know a little bit about what you’re going through to verify that you’re a real person in need of support, but all information you share on that form is private and will only be accessible to admins of the group. Due to extremely high demand, it may take us up to a week to add you to the platform but we promise you will hear from us.

How can I help, if I’m outside the COVID-19 community?

There are lots of ways you support our group if you have not been infected with COVID-19, or have completely recovered.

Request to join our allies support network. We are interested in hearing from healthcare providers, wellness practitioners, lawyers, and any other professionals who are interested in providing support to our group.

Donate to our GoFundMe - our support group is run by a committed team of volunteer admins, most of whom are also COVID-19 patients or survivors. Help us maintain our Slack subscription and compensate our admins for their hard work.

If you are a researcher interested in studying or collecting data on COVID-19 recoveries, please reach out to patient.research.covid19@gmail.com. We will review survey submissions and research opportunities to share with the support group as appropriate

Are you affiliated with a company or non-profit that can support this work in some way? We’re open to partnerships that can offer support to our community and mission. Email info@wearebodypolitic.com with a short description of what you had in mind.

Provide a discounted service to our community. Are you a therapist, yoga teacher, medical professional, chef, or someone who provides a service that you think would be helpful for our community of sick and recovering people? Email info@wearebodypolitic.com and we’ll determine if it’s a good fit to share.

Apply to be a support group moderator. As our support group grows, we will need more moderators to manage conversation flow, and make sure members are following the groups’ rules and guidelines. Email info@wearebodypolitic.com, and we can tell you more about this opportunity.

Become part of our tech team. Do you know how to code? Do you have a background in app development and/or IT support? Are you interested in helping us expand the support group to reach more people across the world? Email fiona@wearebodypolitic.com if this sounds like you.

If you are a reporter, please reach out to PR@wearebodypolitic.com to connect with members of the group. We are aiming to keep this a private space for those who are sick and recovering. If you are interested in learning more about the patient research team that formed in our group, and supporting that initiative, click here.