COVID-19 has undoubtedly affected all caregivers, including foster carers. Despite the importance of self-care in assuaging the impact of the pandemic, there is a dearth of research on this topic, and virtually nothing specific to this important group. This study uses a retrospective pre/post design to measure the impact of the pandemic on foster carers’ self-care. An invitation to participate in an electronic survey was circulated among carers in a US state and a snowball sample of 1229 compiled. Analyses of their replies revealed significant decreases in self-care practices in the months following the start of the pandemic. Disaggregation of the post self-care scores showed that foster carers who were married, not employed outside their home, reported good mental and physical health and were financially stable exhibited higher levels of self-care compared to their peers. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analysis showed that three factors – age, financial security and mental health status – were the strongest determinants of post-care practices. The findings suggest the need for concerted efforts by foster care agencies to conceptualise, implement and evaluate initiatives aimed at the self-care and wellness of carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19无疑影响了所有照料者，包括寄养者。尽管自理对缓解大流行的影响很重要，但对该主题的研究还很匮乏，而且对于这一重要人群而言，实际上没有什么特别的。这项研究采用回顾性的前后设计来衡量大流行对寄养者自我保健的影响。在美国一个州的看护者中散发了参加电子调查的邀请，并编制了1229个雪球样本。对他们的答复的分析显示，在大流行开始后的几个月中，自我保健行为显着下降。自我护理后得分的分类显示，已婚的寄养者而不是在家外工作的寄养者，与同龄人相比，他们的身心健康状况良好，财务状况稳定，自我保健水平更高。此外，分层回归分析表明，年龄，财务安全和心理健康状况这三个因素是护理后实践的最强决定因素。研究结果表明，寄养机构需要作出协调一致的努力，以概念化，实施和评估针对COVID-19大流行期间照顾者的自我保健和保健的举措。