Monique Jackson: Still Ill Corona Diary

Digital records relating to the creation of Still Ill Corona Diary by Monique Jackson, and related activities relating to her collaborations, commissions and Long Covid advocacy work.

Material includes:

- Social media posts

- Press

- COVID advocacy

- Collaborations and commissions

- Reference images

- Transcription text and screengrabs

- Instagram screengrabs

The artworks acquired alongside this archival material are awaiting cataloguing and will be available to search via the Wellcome library catalogue once catalogued.

2020-2021

Uncatalogued: 8.8 GB

The Still Ill Corona Diary is a visual journal of drawings from Monique Jackson, shared via Instagram. The artwork illustrates Monique's experiences of falling ill in March 2020 and ongoing symptoms of Long COVID. Monique Jackson first became sick with suspected COVID-19 in March 2020 and was unwell over a two-week period, during which she stayed at home and isolated. Testing was not widely available at this point in the pandemic, so Monique was unable to confirm if she was COVID positive. After this two-week period, some of Monique's initial symptoms lifted but began to be replaced with a whole range of other symptoms over time. Initially, Monique struggled to get support from doctors as Long Covid was not well understood by the medical profession.

The diary acts to both record Monique's lived experiences over months of ongoing illness and to amplify the experiences of others with Long COVID. The ethos of the project is to advocate and improve visibility for patients with Long COVID, share helpful resources, fundraise for COVID-19 charities, maintain visibility of Long-tail COVID, amplify the voices of frontline workers and to provide a nurturing online community for others experiencing long COVID.

Monique first posted a diary entry on Instagram www.instagram.com/_coronadiary on 14 July 2020. Monique also has a website and has provided a list of resources to help support other 'long haulers'.

Monique is involved in patient activism and advocacy for others living with Long Covid, as well as campaigning for improved post-COVID care and mental health support. Monique publishes a 'COVID Culture Newsletter', an illustrated newsletter offering 'inspired and alternative perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic'. She is centrally involved with several patient Long Covid support groups and has produced artwork for Long Covid Support. In September 2020, Monique ran a social media campaign to increase awareness of Long Covid with a series of images shared under the hashtag #postcovidcareUK. With a commission from Rising Arts Agency, Monique asked her social media followers who they felt was left out of the COVID-19 conversation and then produced nine drawings using quotes from interviews, titled "Covid -19 Who is left out of the conversation?".

Monique has used both her art and her health experiences to engage with the medical profession. She has had her work commissioned or used in medical presentations, research and papers, as well as speaking to scientists and healthcare professionals about her lived experience of Long COVID to aid research and increase awareness of patient experiences. Monique has acted as a patient representative, taking part in extensive meetings at the National Institute of Health Research regarding Long Covid funding. Monique has also taken part in Policy work and had her diary used as a case study in the Greater London Authority's report 'Connecting Community Insights to Policy'.

The Corona Diary project has grown to include online international conversations with webinars and online events featuring contemporary BAME artists, international academics and key workers discussing their experiences of the pandemic. Monique has hosted and taken part in online workshops and events, including radio appearances, events with Long Covid support groups, and researchers. She has also run a series of Live Instagram (IGTV) interviews 'Lockdown Lock-Ins' that include conversations with artists such as Peter Liveridge, Director of Paediatrics in Mumbai India, Long Covid activists in Los Angeles, UK Nurse and ICU doctors. Monique also works as a YouTube presenter for the channel Lived Health on Long Covid and has run Zoom "Covid Culture Talks".

Some information taken from Still Ill Corona Diary website: https://www.stillillcoronadiary.com/

All rights reserved.

This collection is currently uncatalogued and cannot be ordered online. Requests to view uncatalogued material are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more details.