Experiences of long-term care and supportive living residents and families during the COVID-19 pandemic: "It's a lot different for us than it is for the average Joe".

The sample was small and purposive: 14 residents and 18 family members from 10 centres in one Canadian province. The themes may not apply elsewhere. Residents had to be their own decision maker and able to do a phone or Zoom interview. People with dementia or severe cognitive impairment were not represented directly. Family and resident interviewees were not matched. The study cannot compare the same resident-family relationship across the two groups. The interviews were done between the first and second pandemic waves in Alberta, before increased vaccination rates. Views may have changed later. Qualitative themes cannot show how common these experiences were or prove that restrictions caused physical or mental decline. Family members could not always distinguish deterioration from dementia progression.

The project received partial funding through the Government of Canada's Summer Jobs Program in 2020, and the authors declared no competing interests.

Do not conclude that pandemic restrictions caused resident decline or that all residents were harmed. The study has no comparison group, cannot separate restriction effects from progression of dementia, and only interviewed residents without cognitive impairment.