Allied health care in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study on the perceptions of non-hospitalized patients and allied health professionals
Carla Agasi-Idenburg, Anja de Kruif, Amber Ronteltap, Sonja van Oers, Ton Satink, Marian de van der Schueren, Cindy Veenhof
Abstract
Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to primary care and rehabilitation services, leaving many non-hospitalized patients with persistent symptoms unsure where to seek support. Primary allied health care (pAHP) became an important source of guidance and rehabilitation in several countries.
Introduction
In December 2019, the first case of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, was registered in China [1]. Within a month, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were reported in Europe [2,3]. By the end of February 2020, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Netherlands reported the first patient in the Netherlands [4].
Materials and methods
This qualitative study is part of the Dutch ParaCov study [9], a national prospective cohort study designed to evaluate the longitudinal recovery trajectories of patients who received primary allied health care (pAHP) for persistent symptoms following COVID-19. The ParaCov study comprises both quantitative and qualitative components.
Results
A total of 41 participants were included in this study: 11 patients who remained at home during their COVID-19 illness and received primary allied health care, and 30 pAHPs, six from each of the five different disciplines.
Discussion
In relation to our aim, we found that access to pAHP was often delayed. Many patients hesitated to seek help due to fear of contagion and perceptions of primary care. When support was accessed this commonly occurred through via self-referral or of referral from a health care professional.
Acknowledgments
Marijn van Berkel MSca, Douwe Dijkstra MScb, Carlijn van Rooijen MScc
aPhyscial Therapist Practice FysioPunt, Wognum, the Netherlands
bPhysical Therapist Practice FysioZuidereng, Ede, the Netherlands
cUniversity of Applied Sciences Avanz + , Breda, the Netherlands
Citation: Agasi-Idenburg C, de Kruif A, Ronteltap A, van Oers S, Satink T, de van der Schueren M, et al. (2026) Allied health care in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study on the perceptions of non-hospitalized patients and allied health professionals. PLoS One 21(1): e0341308. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0341308
Editor: Gursharan K. Singh, Queensland University of Technology - QUT: Queensland University of Technology, AUSTRALIA
Received: August 15, 2024; Accepted: January 6, 2026; Published: January 23, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 Agasi-Idenburg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: Data Availability Statement Due to ethical restrictions imposed by the Human Ethics Research Committee of the HAN University of Applied Sciences (reference number ECO 301.1/21), the full interview transcripts from this study cannot be shared. The nature of the semi-structured interviews, which included personal reflections and contextual details, presents a significant risk of participant re-identification, even after attempted anonymization. Therefore, sharing these transcripts would compromise participant confidentiality and is not permitted. However, we are able to share the coding trees used in the thematic analysis upon reasonable request. These provide insight into the analytical framework and structure of the findings without disclosing sensitive participant information. Requests for access to the coding trees or further information regarding data sharing can be directed to the following institutional contact: lectoraat.beweegzorg@hu.nl University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.
Funding: This work was supported by the ZonMW under Grant (10390062010001).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
