Abstract
Abstract Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, strict visitor restrictions were issued for long-term care facilities (LTCFs). A year later, restrictions are still in place and they continue to impact family members who have limited or no in-person contact with their relative in LTCFs. The goal of this qualitative longitudinal focused ethnography was to understand the experience of family members who have a relative in a LTCF where visiting has been restricted during the pandemic. Seventeen family members participated in two interviews that were 6 months apart. Data analysis highlighted five key drivers, defined as the workforce, communication deficits, characteristics of care, public health directives, and autonomy of relative which in turn resulted in three main themes: psychological distress, surveillance, and visiting challenges. This study provides a glimpse into the difficult experiences of families with a relative residing in a LTCF in the province of New Brunswick.
Highlights
After the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, strict visitor restrictions were issued for long-term care facilities (LTCFs)
Some people will argue that older adults in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are vulnerable and need to be protected from the virus no matter what it takes, whereas others deem that the strict guidelines on family visiting have created more harm than good especially relating to ignored mental and physical health needs of older adults (Levere, Rowan, & Wysocki, 2021; Tupper, Ward, & Parmar, 2020)
The goal of this qualitative longitudinal focused ethnography study was to understand the experience of family members who have a relative in an LTCF in the province of New Brunswick, where visiting has been restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
After the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, strict visitor restrictions were issued for long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Families are more than visitors when they walk into a LTCF (Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, 2020) They participate in the life of the facility by providing multidimensional personalized care to their relative, supporting employees in their role (Ting-Chun et al, 2020; Tupper et al, 2020). The goal of this qualitative longitudinal focused ethnography study was to understand the experience of family members who have a relative in an LTCF in the province of New Brunswick, where visiting has been restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allowed within public health guidelines, LTCFs implemented these new guidelines differently and with inconsistencies among facilities
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