Caring from a distance: carers’ experiences of keeping in touch with care home residents during COVID-19 closures

Abstract

In response to COVID-19, many care homes closed to visitors and new ways for carers and residents to stay in touch were tried. This UK study employed an online survey to explore carer experiences of staying in touch from a distance. The research highlighted: the importance of ongoing connections (through visits and remotely); diverse approaches to maintaining contact; and concerns about safeguarding and well-being. Findings underscore the importance of developing personalised approaches to staying in touch during future care home closures and for those who require an ongoing approach to remote contact due to distance, illness or additional caring responsibilities.

Informal care in times of a public health crisis: Objective burden, subjective burden and quality of life of caregivers in the Netherlands during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Whether the informal caregiver lives together with the care recipient (De Boer et al, 2020) and the travel distance (White, 2020) may have also had an influence, because contact with people from outside the household was restricted and care homes were closed for visitors (De Boer et al, 2020). This made it difficult to provide care outside the household, while within the household it was difficult to escape the caregiving situation.…”

How does Carer’s Allowance in the UK construct family carers? History and recent developments

“…Carers who support more than one disabled person, who support people unable to qualify for relevant disability benefits, who share the care with wider networks or who support people living in residential settings are also excluded from Carer's Allowance. Carers often continue to provide considerable support to family members even when they are in hospital or residential care, something known about for some time but that has come into greater prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the loss of visiting rights highlighted family members' role in supporting people in residential care (White et al, 2022). These exclusions restrict the definition of a carer to those who are able or willing, or who are forced through gendered expectations of family life, to commit to caring as a largely full-time responsibility, making it more difficult to consider more flexible arrangements.…”