"Second set of eyes:" Family caregivers and post-acute home health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patient Educ Couns
; 109: 107627, 2023 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2182244
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the experiences of family caregivers of older adults who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and discharged to post-acute, skilled home health care (HHC) services.METHODS:
Thirty semi-structured interviews with family caregivers of older adults who received services from a large, not-for-profit HHC agency following hospitalization with COVID-19 infection were conducted between March-July 2021 and analyzed using thematic analysis.RESULTS:
During the pandemic, family caregivers encountered societal and institutional barriers to assisting older adults across post-acute care transitions. These barriers included hospital visitation restrictions as well as difficulties accessing community-based resources and medical equipment. Despite limitations and delays in HHC services, many family caregivers identified post-acute HHC, delivered in-person or via telehealth, as important to addressing care gaps for older adults, as well as their own needs for training and support during the pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
Policies intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 introduced new challenges for caregivers during HHC. However, HHC agencies and their staff adapted within this context to provide a needed bridge of support.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Home Care Services
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Patient Educ Couns
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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