ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, family concerns regarding residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) increased due to a high proportion of COVID cases and deaths among residents and restrictions that made it impossible to visit. These changes created numerous challenges for facilities communicating with families, and between families and residents. However, little is known about how these facilities addressed these communication challenges and how those communication strategies were related to family perceptions about the facility. We implemented an online survey of family members or friends of residents in LTCFs from April 28 to June 19, 2020, using convenience sampling. A total of 174 responses nationwide reported the types of communications used, frequency of communication and alternative visits, and whether respondents had peace of mind, would recommend the facility, or were considering removing the resident from the facility. The results of our hierarchical logistic regression showed that respondents felt greater peace of mind when there were multiple communication channels to contact the resident. Also, respondents had more negative perceptions of a facility when they were not informed about confirmed COVID cases. Our findings suggest multiple communication channels and transparency about COVID status were effective in keeping positive family perceptions about the facility.

摘要

在 COVID-19 大流行期间，由于居民中 COVID-19 病例和死亡比例很高，以及无法探访的限制，家庭对长期护理机构 (LTCF) 居民的担忧有所增加。这些变化为设施与家庭以及家庭与居民之间的沟通带来了许多挑战。然而，对于这些设施如何应对这些沟通挑战以及这些沟通策略如何与家庭对该设施的看法相关，我们知之甚少。我们使用便利抽样对 2020 年 4 月 28 日至 6 月 19 日期间 LTCF 居民的家人或朋友进行了在线调查。全国共有 174 份回复报告了使用的通信类型、通信频率和替代访问，以及受访者是否安心，会推荐该设施，或正在考虑将居民从该设施中移除。我们的分层逻辑回归结果表明，当有多个沟通渠道可以联系住户时，受访者会感到更加安心。此外，当受访者没有被告知确诊的 COVID 病例时，他们对设施的负面看法更多。我们的研究结果表明，关于 COVID 状态的多种沟通渠道和透明度可以有效地保持家庭对设施的积极看法。当受访者没有被告知确诊的 COVID 病例时，他们对设施的负面看法更多。我们的研究结果表明，关于 COVID 状态的多种沟通渠道和透明度可以有效地保持家庭对设施的积极看法。当受访者没有被告知确诊的 COVID 病例时，他们对设施的负面看法更多。我们的研究结果表明，关于 COVID 状态的多种沟通渠道和透明度可以有效地保持家庭对设施的积极看法。