The impact of Covid-19-related distancing on the well-being of nursing home residents and their family members: a qualitative study

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the consequences of Covid-19-related isolation and social restrictions on the well-being of nursing home residents and their family members, and to analyze how distancing has affected the relationships of family members with residents and the nursing home staff. Design: The data consist of 41 thematic one-on-one interviews conducted during May–December 2020 with family members of nursing home residents. Convenience sampling was utilized by asking several nursing homes in different parts of Finland to relay a contact request from the researchers to the residents’ family members. The main themes of the interviews were lockdown and visiting restrictions. Subthemes included the frequency of visits, other means of interaction, changes in the relationships of family members with their loved ones and with nursing home staff, and the feelings aroused by the situation. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, resulting in 794 pages of data. Method: The qualitative study uses inductive content analysis. NVivo12 software facilitated the systematic coding of the data. Results: According to the family members, distancing aggravated the residents’ pre-existing conditions: they reported a sudden progression in memory disorders and significant deterioration in physical abilities, for example. Both residents and family members experienced anxiety, grief, and severe stress, and family members expressed concern that residents might die due to a lack of social contact and activity. Family members were also frustrated about not being able to touch their relatives or participate in their care, and therefore sometimes thought that their visits were useless. New forms of interaction with family members, introduced by the nursing homes, were appreciated. However, some family members perceived the interactional protocols as unfair and complained about insufficient information. Conclusions: The findings underline the need for nursing homes to implement a good interactional protocol. Overall, the results show that the measures taken to protect residents’ health during the Covid-19 outbreak were short-sighted in terms of the social dimension of well-being. It is therefore important to continue developing safe and humane solutions for interaction when social restrictions are in place. Tweetable abstract: Covid-19-related distancing has caused anxiety, grief, and severe stress for nursing home residents and their family members.

Social Distancing and Isolation Strategies to Prevent and Control the Transmission of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases in Care Homes for Older People: An International Review

“…Thus, many authors have highlighted the importance of reintroducing visitors into CHs as soon as it is safe to do so [ 40 , 58 , 107 ], with calls for CHs to take a more flexible, risk-assessment-based approach to visits [ 38 , 67 ]. The urgency of this is accentuated by evidence emerging about the negative impacts of visiting restrictions on the physical, psychological, emotional and cognitive well-being of residents and their families and friends [ 174 , 175 ]. These findings resonate with other studies for nursing home residents [ 168 ], where restrictions resulted in several losses related to freedom, social contact, activities, communication and autonomy, and with residents describing feelings of depression, hopelessness, uselessness, and sadness.…”

COVID-19 management in nursing homes by outbreak teams (MINUTES) — study description and data characteristics: a qualitative study

“…25 Testing, isolation of residents, PPE, and staff and residents’ well-being were identified as challenges and dilemmas related to COVID-19 in care homes. 26 Remarkably, ample research has shown that COVID-19-related measures negatively impact nursing home residents’ mental and physical well-being, 4 but only little has been described about this in the meeting documents. Apparently, either OT meetings have a different focus, or OTs discuss well-being of residents but regard this as context to decisions that does not have to be written down in the minutes.…”

“…3 Besides, COVID-19-related measures negatively impact nursing home residents’ mental and physical well-being. 4 …”

Place-Making through Media: How Media Environments Make a Difference for Long-Term Care Residents’ Agency

“…The past two years have seen strict visitation restrictions at care homes around the world due to COVID-19 infection prevention measures and studies report increased levels of loneliness, stress, and depression among care home residents [23][24][25][26][27]. For months at a time in many locations, care home residents have not been able to meet with their spouses or their children, or meetings have been restricted to brief exchanges through a window or doorway.…”