Caring for a Relative With Dementia in Long-Term Care During COVID-19.
Lauren L Mitchell, Elizabeth A Albers, Robyn W Birkeland and 6 others
PMID 34929196WHAT IT FOUND
Family caregivers of long-term care residents with dementia described visiting restrictions, isolation, disrupted routines, infection fears, and missing day-to-day information as major burdens.
They valued staff communication, infection control, and creative ways to maintain contact.
Key findings
01Visiting restrictions were frequently reported by 79% of survey participants and 100% of interview participants.
02Caregivers said specific, individualized communication from LTC staff contributed to peace of mind, with 41% of survey participants and 90% of interview participants mentioning good communication with staff.
03End-of-life care was complicated by pandemic restrictions, with fears that relatives might die alone or families could not be present before death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most caregivers were highly educated, affluent, and White, so perspectives of less privileged caregivers may be missing. The study sampled family caregivers, not residents, so resident experiences were not reported. The themes describe pandemic experiences and are not evidence that any intervention or policy improved outcomes. The interview subset was purposively selected, not randomly sampled, so it may not represent all caregivers.
Declared interests
The paper is listed as NIH extramural research support; no author conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that specific communication or visiting policies improved outcomes. The study reports caregiver experiences and themes, not tested effects.