Journal article

Introduction: The measures implemented to manage the COVID‐19 pandemic have been shown to impair mental health. This problem is likely to be exacerbated for carers. Method: Informal carers (mainly parents) of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and a comparison group of parents of children without disabilities, completed an online questionnaire. Almost all the data were collected while strict lockdown conditions were in place.

Older adults with COVID-19 who survive hospitalizations and return to their homes confront substantial health challenges and an unpredictable future. While understanding of the unique needs of COVID-19 survivors is developing, components of the evidence-based Transitional Care Model provide a framework for taking a more immediate, holistic response to caring for these individuals as they moved back into the community.

Coronavirus‐19 (COVID‐19) has reconfigured working lives with astonishing velocity. Older people have suffered the worst effects of the pandemic, with governments marginalizing or overlooking their needs. Women perform the majority of care for older people, often compromising their working lives and health. Yet in academic articles their voices are often filtered or aggregated in quantitative studies.

Objective: To describe the experiences and needs of caregivers of persons with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in a city in India. Design: Qualitative study using a telephonic semistructured interview. Setting: A specialist geriatric outpatient mental health service based in a nongovernmental organization in Chennai, India. Participants: A purposive sampling of family members of persons with dementia registered in the database and seen within the previous 6 months.

Key Points

• With social distancing and visitors limited in healthcare, caregivers of cancer patients are at increased risk for isolation.
• Caregivers may have learned particular lessons that can foster resilience from isolation.
• Telehealth and phone check‐ins offer opportunities to support caregivers.
• Policy initiatives have the potential to continue support for caregivers post‐COVID.
• Supporting caregivers is a community effort, and its importance should not be forgotten post‐COVID.

Needs have increased leading to negative impact on independence, relationships and health and more pressure on carers, finds Mencap

Older adults residing in long-term care facilities are especially vulnerable for severe illness or death from COVID-19. To contain the transmission of the virus in long-term care facilities, federal health officials have issued strict visitation guidelines, restricting most visits between residents and all visitors, including family members. Yet, many older adults rely on family care for social support and to maintain their health, well-being, and safety in long-term care facilities, and therefore need to stay connected to their families.

During the current global public health emergency, clinicians may likely struggle to meet the psychological, spiritual, social, and emotional needs of patients and family caregivers. [...]the burnout and existential distress experienced by healthcare professionals worldwide prior to COVID-19 will likely increase significantly amid the current pandemic (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; Parks, 2020; Pessin et al., 2015).

While the burden of caring for people living with dementia has been well documented, considerably less is known about how carers transition into post-care life. This study aimed to understand the experiences of primary family care-givers of people with dementia after the person with dementia has died. A specific focus of the research was understanding the barriers to transitioning into a positive post-care life, and facilitators that help sustain carers as they move forward after their care journey has ended.

Objectives: We examined how caregivers who had cared for a relative at end of life (EoL) wished to be cared for in the event that they experienced advanced dementia or physical disability in the future, and what factors influenced their preferences for EoL care. Methods: In this mixed-methods study, 83 participants, recruited from multiple sources in Israel, were interviewed concerning socio-demographic factors, health status, past experience with EoL, preference for extension of life vs.