Accessibility to post-intensive care devices and resources for people with post COVID-19 syndrome

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Within the framework of the therapeutic itineraries of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome who were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Post-ICU Intensive Rehabilitation Ward for COVID-19 (SARIP) of Juan A. Fernández Hospital in Buenos Aires city in 2021, the aim of this research was to explore the accessibility to post-ICU care devices and resources. METHODS: It was an exploratory, descriptive study with a cross-sectional/synchronic design, which used a qualitative methodological strategy and the semi-structured interview as a data collection technique. RESULTS: Fragmentation between emergency care and follow-up was observed. Difficulties were found in accessing health services after hospitalization, as a result of which the subjects developed multiple strategies (resorting to social security or prepaid health insurance, paying for consultations, contacting health professionals directly, circulating among various institutions, etc.), although often without results. DISCUSSION: These results allow to think about the organization of the health system after the pandemic, seeking to strengthen it in order to guarantee the right to access to health and care of the health-disease process from an integral health perspective.