OnTrackNY participant & family experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic

December 2022

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Amplify OnTrackNY project summaries provide an accessible overview of projects led by Amplify OnTrackNY, including the goals, actions taken, learnings, and next steps. 

Project overview

What are the goals of this project?

This project sought to understand how OnTrackNY participants and family members were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

What has happened so far?

Amplify OnTrackNY hosted individual and group interviews (focus groups) with OnTrackNY participants, graduates, and family members. We asked about the impact of COVID-19 and how OnTrackNY teams provided services. We spoke with 13 participants and graduates, and 9 family members. Amplify team members with lived experience of psychosis collaborated with researchers to develop the questions we asked, and took the lead in conducting the focus groups and interviews.

Exploring participant & family perspectives

Family: Many participants discussed improved relationships with their family during the pandemic, such as feeling more connected. Some family members talked about coping with increased stress as their loved ones struggled with isolation. Participants became more reliant on the family to encourage and support them with school or staying in touch with their OnTrackNY team.

Friends: Participants talked about learning which friends really cared about them and checked in on them during the pandemic.

School: Though a few participants described benefits of remote school, many struggled with online learning. For example, they had difficulty concentrating at home or connecting with teachers and classmates and it was harder to access academic support services or accommodations.

Work: While some participants switched to working from home, many talked about losing their jobs and the challenges of looking for work during the pandemic.

Health/Wellness: Participants initially struggled with being active and filling free time. Over time, some figured out ways to increase involvement in hobbies and self-care, while others continued to experience challenges. Many described changes in weight and levels of physical activity. 

Telehealth: Participants felt very positive about telehealth and most wanted the option of receiving services both in-person and by telehealth moving forward. Receiving services by telehealth was a challenge for some, such as finding space to take phone calls or being comfortable in groups online. Some family members were concerned whether OnTrackNY telehealth services were keeping their loved ones as engaged as in-person services.

What is next for the project?

We are sharing what we learned with different groups, like OnTrack Central and the OnTrackNY Youth and Young Adult Leadership and Family Advisory Councils. We are also taking at deeper look at what we heard to understand more about the challenges that some participants experienced when accessing OnTrackNY telehealth services during the pandemic.

How will this project make a difference?

Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted participants and families helps OnTrack Central and OnTrackNY teams think through how to support people through the challenges they experienced. This project also demonstrated ways to meaningfully involve people with lived experience of psychosis, whose voices are usually underrepresented in guiding quality improvement projects. 
 

To learn more about this project, email amplify.otny@nyspi.columbia.edu

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