[Impact of COVID-19 on long term care: the case of residential facilities. SESPAS Report 2022]. / Impacto de la COVID-19 en la atención sociosanitaria: el caso de las residencias. Informe SESPAS 2022.

ABSTRACT

Facilities have been the focus of the greatest impact of COVID-19 in terms of mortality and extreme situations, along with health centers. The main objective of this article is to describe how the arrival of SARS-CoV-2 affected facilities, focusing on Spain during the first pandemic months, and to point out lessons learned. Despite the measures and regulations approved in the first weeks of March 2020, these centers were not prepared for the arrival of an epidemic such as the one experienced. The clearest indicator of this is a strong impact on mortality in residential facilities. The excess of deaths in residences has been estimated at 26,448 people between March 2020 and May 2021 (10.6% of the total number of dependents cared for in residences, with an excess mortality of 43.5%), with deaths concentrated in the first months of the pandemic. However, there are other effects to be considered such as those that affect the mental health and quality of life of residents, family members, and residential facilities staff. Assuming that no two pandemics are possibly alike, it is essential to draw lessons from lived experience that may be useful to prepare for similar future situations and strengthen a long-term care system that was already frail before the arrival of SARS-CoV-2.