ABSTRACT
Background The COVID‐19 pandemic has required restrictions of daily activities, which has been found to impact the lives of persons with dementia and their family caregivers, who have multiple care demands. The lack of relevant studies in Taiwan emphasized the need to explore the experiences of family caregivers of older persons with dementia faced with the intensified restrictions to control COVID‐19, and the impact of the availability of a smart‐clothes home nursing program. Method This qualitative study used semi‐structured interviews with family caregivers of older persons with dementia. Participants were recruited from dementia clinics of a medical center in northern Taiwan from a subset sample of a larger study on smart clothes assisted home nursing care. A total of 12 family caregivers who participated in the original study were interviewed during the follow‐up period;seven were caregivers of a person with dementia wearing a smart vest, which transmitted information to a home care nurse. Interviews were conducted by telephone because the conditions of the pandemic prevented face‐to‐face interviews. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Result Interview data showed family caregivers' felt the care recipient's health was compromised and functional conditions intensified as Covid‐19‐related pandemic restrictions increased. Specific concerns included a lack social interactions, decreased daily activity levels, loss of interest and lack of motivation for activities, increased mood and behavioral problems, a decline in physical function and an increase in health problems. Family caregivers were also impacted by these restrictions, with significant increases in severity of caregiver role strain, including feeling trapped, a lack of in‐home support, profound powerlessness, and worries about the person with dementia contracting the coronavirus. The smart‐clothes assisted home nursing care program offered supplementary support to family caregivers by providing on‐time interactions, helping them manage health problems, enhancing predictability of the care recipient's behaviors, and providing caregivers with emotional support. Conclusion The findings of this study support alternative care such as implementation of technology‐assisted home health services to meet caregiver needs to facilitate family caregiving of persons with dementia during the necessary restrictions in activities during the COVID‐19 pandemic.