TABLE 3.

Content areas and examples of the positive impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic provided by participants

Content area	Examples generated by participants	Sample quote
Positive general life impacts	Fewer concerns about the need to engage in activities outside the home (e.g., remote work and school, errands, appointments)	“Just that the world kind of has to live the way I have now. Has to stay inside, and things are more accessible to me”
	Reduced guilt over cancelling social events with friends or family	“Because I can’t really do much, because I can’t go out with friends or go do anything at a theater or like a festival or a concert or something. I guess I am able to just stay home in between and not have to worry about breaking plans as much. But in a way, it’s kind of a relief, I suppose”
	Greater access to online services (e.g., delivery services, telehealth)	“There’s a lot more online that I couldn’t access and I’m afraid will be gone again. But actually, the world’s like a better place for me…”
	The ability to work from home and feeling more in control	“You know what, I feel really bad saying this, but in any way, I think the silver lining of pandemic is getting to do everything from home. So I can, to the best of my abilities, control my own environment. So in an office or in a classroom, I can’t do my work sprawled on the bed in the dark with an ice hat, but I can do that. So now—so it—again, it sounds so terrible to take something good out of this, but that part has been a little bit easier”
Benefits of telehealth	Improved access to care	“Before coronavirus, I had to go to an emergency room every time that I needed care_that I needed medications to break it. So now that I have it at home, I don’t have to do that and I don’t have to coordinate with somebody else to drive me and hang out with me for a couple hours and then drive me later. Now I can just be at home, and I don’t have to do anything. And I know I’m going to feel better in 15 minutes. And I can just go back to living my life.”
	Reduced need for travel to work, medical appointments, etc	“Now, benefits of COVID is (a) I don’t have to get in my car in the sun and drive to my doctor”
	Reduced exposure to potential migraine triggers	“I’m like now, I won’t have people up on my back with their nasty‐smelling perfume. And you know, I—they limit the number of people in the stores. See, this was all perfect for people with migraines, because we_these are things—we’re like, I wish people would just stay off my back. I can’t—back up, you know? So this helps us greatly. And then they’re only allowing a certain amount of people in an area, and this is perfect for people like us”
	Coordination of at‐home treatments leading to quicker pain and symptom relief	“So now—so coronavirus actually helped me be able to get the treatment to be—to do it at home, because my doctors didn’t want me to be going to emergency rooms”
	Better communication, accessibility, and less travel to health‐care professionals	“Again, an improvement. I had asked my doctor to—for phone calls, and now I'm able to not have to travel to see my doctors, which is amazing. And if I need to, I can. But yeah, it’s been actually really for the better”

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.