"Let me touch him”: Perceptions and experiences of family caregivers of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel

Older adults in nursing homes were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visitations in nursing homes were restricted. The present study examined the perceptions and experiences of family caregivers of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 crisis in Israel and their coping strategies. Online focus group interviews were held with 16 family caregivers of nursing home residents. Three main categories were identified through Grounded Theory techniques: (a) Anger and decreased trust in nursing homes;(b) Perception of the residents as victims of the nursing home policy;(c) Coping strategies at different levels. The outbreak redefined family caregivers' understanding of their role. Practical implications include making the voice of the family caregivers heard, identifying effective coping strategies, and creating a dialogue between family caregivers, nursing home managements, and staff.

"Let me touch him": Perceptions and experiences of family caregivers of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel.

Older adults in nursing homes were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visitations in nursing homes were restricted. The present study examined the perceptions and experiences of family caregivers of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 crisis in Israel and their coping strategies. Online focus group interviews were held with 16 family caregivers of nursing home residents. Three main categories were identified through Grounded Theory techniques: (a) Anger and decreased trust in nursing homes; (b) Perception of the residents as victims of the nursing home policy; (c) Coping strategies at different levels. The outbreak redefined family caregivers' understanding of their role. Practical implications include making the voice of the family caregivers heard, identifying effective coping strategies, and creating a dialogue between family caregivers, nursing home managements, and staff.

"You Killed the Hospital, They Have No Place Left": The Experience of Nursing Home Multidisciplinary Staff in Israel during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The purpose of the present study is to examine how multidisciplinary staffs experienced and coped with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in nursing homes. The research included six in-depth online focus groups consisting of 21 multidisciplinary staff members from 14 Israeli nursing homes. The qualitative analysis was encoded in stages with repeated comparisons between individual participants and within groups and led to four main themes: (a) Multidisciplinary staff perceptions of nursing home management's performance in relation to them, which was experienced as insufficient appreciation and feelings of abandonment among the non-medical staff; (b) Multidisciplinary staff perceptions of the Ministry of Health's performance, which was experienced as chaotic and disconnected albeit supportive on the personal level; (c)The nursing home multidisciplinary staff experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of perceived stress and burnout, as well as development of a routine; (d) The multidisciplinary staff's coping strategies, which included commitment to work despite risk, redefinition of their role, and staff insights about the need to take responsibility for their role and not rely on outside help. The findings indicate the importance of relationships that promote support and mutual communication between multidisciplinary staff, and both nursing home management and Ministry of Health.KEY POINTS Nursing home multidisciplinary staff experienced disconnection from and abandonment by nursing home management and Ministry of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic.Nursing home multidisciplinary staff experienced stress and burnout but also developed a routine.Despite intensified negative emotional feelings, multidisciplinary staff also underwent processes of redefining their role and gaining greater independence.Findings indicate the importance of creating a climate that facilitates mutual sharing, listening and learning.

Editorial

From a macroeconomic perspective increasing longevity is not necessarily a feast, when you take into account that all modern welfare states have on the one hand a set of rules and regulations that prevent young people to enter the labour market before a certain age or before they have at least completed some form of education, while on the other hand there are rules and regulations that protect older people and grant them some kind of pension from a certain age, depending on the country where one lives. [...]the balance between those who are responsible for earning most of GDP and those who live (mostly) on transfers from the working part of the population is shifting, increasing the burden on those who are in the work force. [...]one can argue that increasing vitality amongst for instance people in their fifties and sixties adds to their desire to stay active and keep on working and not to retire while they are still full of energy. [...]for large groups of low educated men and women, the unhealthy years already start even before their official retirement age (König et al., 2019).