Caregivers' Concerns About Assisted Living Residents' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.
Matthias Hoben, Jennifer Baumbusch, David B Hogan and 8 others
PMID 36124925WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of assisted living residents reported much higher concern about residents' depressed mood, loneliness and anxiety after visitor restrictions began.
Families who felt informed and involved, or whose residents had counseling access, reported less worry.
Key findings
01Caregivers' concern about residents' depressed mood, loneliness and anxiety was high before the pandemic and rose substantially during the first wave.
02Caregivers who said residents had no access to counseling were more likely to report concern about resident mental health.
03Caregivers who felt well informed and involved were less likely to report concern about resident loneliness and anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that lack of counseling access or poor communication caused caregiver concerns. It relied on caregiver reports and did not collect resident data, so residents' actual mental health status could not be confirmed. Most caregivers were White, English-speaking and higher income, so results may not apply to other groups. The researchers could not calculate a caregiver response rate because the survey link was shared through homes and other channels, so participation may have been selective. Concerns were rated for periods before and after March 1, 2020, rather than measured prospectively at both times.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by Alberta Innovates and the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving counseling access or caregiver communication will reduce caregiver concerns. The study measured associations in caregiver reports and could not test these changes.