Relatives’ experiences of the hospitalisation of older people with COVID‐19: A qualitative interview study

Abstract

Background During the COVID‐19 pandemic, visitors were restricted from hospitals, separating them from hospitalised friends and family to reduce the infection risk. Objectives The objective was to explore how relatives of older people acutely admitted to hospital with COVID‐19 experienced being a relative, and how they felt about their contact with health care professionals (HCPs) when visitor restrictions prevented their physical presence in the ward. Method This study employed a qualitative design. We used individual qualitative semi‐structured interviews and the participants were relatives of acutely admitted older people from three COVID‐19 wards in Denmark. A total of 18 relatives participated, 14 female and 4 male, aged between 45 and 83 years. The analysis was guided by Graneheim and Lundman’s qualitative content analysis. Results The analysis derived the following three themes: (1) the importance of trust in a period of uncertainty; (2) the meaning of contact with HCPs, and (3) active but at a distance—a balancing act. The participants' feelings of uncertainty were prominent. The unknown nature of the disease and the unusual situation challenged relatives' trust in HCPs and the health care system. Conclusions and relevance to practice The findings highlight relatives' stress when the possibilities for visiting are restricted and the importance of trust in, and the relationship with HCPs. This study can strengthen HCPs' understanding of relatives' situation when older people are hospitalised during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic.

‘Safety First’: Residents, Families, and Healthcare Staff Experiences of COVID-19 Restrictions at an Irish Residential Care Centre

“…The residents all had access and support to engage in virtual visits; however, they were not overly interested in virtual visits, some claiming the technology was too complicated. Hoffman et al [ 25 ] and Giebel et al [ 26 ] similarly found that older people sometimes found the mobile technology too complex to use. Rather, it was mostly families who communicated the need for virtual visits, reporting the challenges they experienced depending on the availability of staff or who was on duty that day.…”

Relatives' experiences of visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave: a PREMs study

“…Data were anonymised to ensure participant anonymity and respect good research practice in this type of study, as per the Declaration of Helsinki (35). Data from the self-reported questionnaires returned were extracted into an Excel© spreadsheet (Microsoft, Redmond, Washington, USA), cleaned, and imported into IBM SPSS® software, version 28 (IBM Corp, Armonk, New York, USA), for analyses.…”

“…This was linked to not being able to see how their loved one was being cared for and having to put their trust in healthcare institutions (35). Unclear information or inconsistencies in institutional policy contributed to these uncertainties and relatives sought e cient face-toface communication (35). Hoffman et al highlighted the need for personal attention from relatives (35)(36)(37).…”

“…Unclear information or inconsistencies in institutional policy contributed to these uncertainties and relatives sought e cient face-toface communication (35). Hoffman et al highlighted the need for personal attention from relatives (35)(36)(37). To assess inpatients' relatives' experiences with regard to the visiting restrictions imposed during COVID-19's rst wave, we distributed a patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) questionnaire to all the patients hospitalized in the Valais Hospital between the end of February and mid-May, 2020, and to their relatives.…”

“…Recent research has shown that relatives' experiences during the uncertain context of COVID-19 led to frustrations, especially among older adults (33,34). This was linked to not being able to see how their loved one was being cared for and having to put their trust in healthcare institutions (35). Unclear information or inconsistencies in institutional policy contributed to these uncertainties and relatives sought e cient face-toface communication (35).…”