Enhancing the consumer uptake and impact of the world’s first long COVID digital platform developed by University of Leeds and ELAROS

Dr Manoj Sivan 

Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM), Faculty of Medicine and Health 

Relevant ESRC Discipline: Tools, technologies and methods 

Long COVID (LC) is a new public health burden that affects more than 2 million people in the UK alone. The condition reduces quality of life and has financial implication on country’s economy. This proposal builds upon a successful collaboration established during the pandemic (December 2020) between frontline clinicians from University of Leeds and the digital health company (ELAROS 24/7 Limited). Together, they developed the world’s first validated interactive digital platform for the management of LC.   

The platform comprises of a smartphone application which the Person with LC (PwLC) uses to report his/her symptoms and monitors the condition. The clinician can see the entries on a clinical portal and direct treatments to the PwLC. Since its launch in June 2021, it is now used by more than 20,000 PwLC in over 30 NHS services and recommended by NHS England for all patients with LC to use  

The focus of this project is to explore its usage by PwLC, understand the barriers and make further adaptations to the system to make it more user-friendly and usable in the society. The proposal addresses ESRC focus on understanding socio-economic barriers to technology and promoting self-management to improve quality of life in the population.