Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has accounted for more than 25000 cases in Ireland with approximately 28% of the clusters in nursing homes as of June 2020. The older population is the most vulnerable to serious complications from this illness and over 90% of deaths due to COVID-19 to date have been in patients over the age of 65. Continuing to provide routine care within nursing homes in these challenging times is an essential part of ensuring that presentations to hospitals for non-essential reasons are minimized. In this article, we describe a project being undertaken by a rural Psychiatry of Old Age Service in the northwest of Ireland. We aim to provide ordinary care in extraordinary times by using mobile tablets within the nursing homes and long-stay facilities in our region for remote video consultations during the COVID-19 crisis.
Highlights
There have been more than 25,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Ireland as of June 2020
This is a Health Service Executive (HSE)-approved communication medium (HSE, 2018). This equipment will be on loan for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis and can be used by all medical professionals who are involved in the care of the residents of these facilities
All patients residing at 1 of the 16 long-stay facilities and undergoing a Psychiatry of Old Age assessment using the mobile tablets will be recruited for this study
Summary
There have been more than 25,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Ireland as of June 2020. Of these, those aged 65 and over account for approximately 25% of the cases (HPSC, 2020). As the crisis has evolved, it has become clearer that nursing homes and long-stay facilities with their older residents are at the epicenter of this pandemic. Of the 892 clusters reported in Ireland to date, 257 (28.8%) were in nursing homes and an additional 29 (3.3%) were in community hospitals or long-stay units (HPSC, 2020). The increased risk of COVID-19 infection transmission in these settings may be attributed to an increased requirement for support with personal care, difficulties in social isolation, and increased comorbidities including cognitive impairment which could limit insight (McMichael et al 2020)
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