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COVID-19 in aged care homes: a comparison of effects initial government policies had in the UK (primarily focussing on England) and Australia during the first wave.
Chan, Daniel Kam Yin; Mclaws, Mary-Louise; Forsyth, Duncan Ronald.
  • Chan DKY; Aged Care and Rehabilitation, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, 68 Eldridge Road, Bankstown, NSW 2200, Australia.
  • Mclaws ML; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW, 3rd Floor Samuels Building, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Forsyth DR; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW, 3rd Floor Samuels Building, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Int J Qual Health Care ; 33(1)2021 Mar 16.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1228518
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact globally, with older people living in aged care homes suffering high death rates.

OBJECTIVES:

We aimed to compare the impact of initial government policies on this vulnerable older population between the UK and Australia during the first wave of attack.

METHODS:

We searched websites of governments in the UK and Australia and media outlets. We examined the key policies including the national lockdown dates and the distribution of some important resources (personal protective equipment and testing) and the effects of these initial policies on the mortality rates in the aged care homes during the first wave of attack of COVID-19.

RESULTS:

We found that both countries had prioritized resources to hospitals over aged care homes during the first wave of attack. Both countries had lower priority for aged care residents in hospitals (e.g. discharging without testing for COVID-19 or discouraging admissions). However, deaths in aged care homes were 270 times higher in the UK than in Australia as on 7 May 2020 (despite UK having a population only 2.5 times larger than Australia). The lower fatality rate in Australia may have been due to the earlier lockdown strategy when the total daily cases were low in Australia (118) compared to the UK (over 1000), as well as the better community viral testing regime in Australia.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, the public health policy in Australia aimed towards earlier intervention with earlier national lockdown and more viral testing to prevent new cases. This primary prevention could have resulted in more lives being saved. In contrast, the initial policy in the UK focussed mainly on protecting resources for hospitals, and there was a delay in national lockdown intervention and lower viral testing rate, resulting in more lives lost in the aged care sector.
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Texto completo: Disponible Colección: Bases de datos internacionales Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: COVID-19 / Política de Salud / Hogares para Ancianos Tipo de estudio: Estudio experimental / Estudio observacional Límite: Humanos País/Región como asunto: Europa / Oceanía Idioma: Inglés Asunto de la revista: Servicios de Salud Año: 2021 Tipo del documento: Artículo País de afiliación: Intqhc

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Texto completo: Disponible Colección: Bases de datos internacionales Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: COVID-19 / Política de Salud / Hogares para Ancianos Tipo de estudio: Estudio experimental / Estudio observacional Límite: Humanos País/Región como asunto: Europa / Oceanía Idioma: Inglés Asunto de la revista: Servicios de Salud Año: 2021 Tipo del documento: Artículo País de afiliación: Intqhc