Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate how patients experience the information, the source investigation and contact tracing and the measures in isolation at the start of a pandemic.
Design: Secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted as part of a larger exploratory mixed-methods study on COVID-19 patient experiences.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 people from Friesland and Groningen who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 9 March and 3 April 2020, recruited via maximum variation sampling. Thematic analysis was used.
Results: The following themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Information: Conflicting information by different advisors led to a lack of clarity. Patients admitted to hospital usually felt uninformed about the rules of home isolation after discharge. 2) Investigation into the source of infection: For most it was unclear whether and how this investigation took place. Some expected feedback on their suggestions. 3) Informing contacts: Not everyone felt able to inform the right contacts. Some felt stigmatized. 4) Living with the measures in home isolation: The recommended living rules were often not fully applied. Some patients felt insufficiently supported.
Conclusion: Our study shows that not all COVID-19 patients felt well cared for at the start of the outbreak. Scaling down monitoring by the public health service can mean that questions about source and contact investigation and isolation remain unanswered or are answered by others. This leads to conflicting information and non-compliance with measures. The supervision of patients in isolation should be better guarded.