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From Compliance to Care: Qualitative Findings from a Survey of Essential Caregivers in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 April 2024
Abstract
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of the care provided by family members and close friends to older people living in long-term care (LTC) homes. Our implementation science team helped three Ontario LTC homes to implement an intervention to allow family members to enter the homes during pandemic lockdowns.
Objective
We used a variety of methods to support the implementation, and this paper reports results from an Ontario-wide survey intended to help us understand the nature of the care provided by family caregivers.
Methods
We administered a survey of essential caregivers in Ontario, and a single open-ended question yielded a substantial qualitative data set that we analysed with a coding and theming procedure that yielded 13 themes.
Findings
The 13 themes reveal deficiencies in Ontario’s LTC sector, attempts to cope with the deficiencies, and efforts to influence change and improvement.
Discussion
Our findings indicate that essential caregivers find it necessary to take on vital roles in order to shore up two significant gaps in the current system: they provide psychosocial and emotional (and sometimes even basic) care to residents, and they play a monitoring and advocacy role to compensate for the failings of the current regulatory compliance regime.
Résumé
La pandémie de la COVID-19 a mis en évidence l'importance des soins prodigués par les membres de la famille et les amis proches aux personnes âgées vivant dans un foyer de soins de longue durée (SLD). Notre équipe en science de la mise en œuvre a aidé trois foyers de SLD de l'Ontario à mettre sur pied une intervention permettant aux membres de la famille d'entrer dans les foyers pendant les périodes de fermeture pour cause de pandémie.
Nous avons utilisé diverses méthodes pour soutenir la mise en œuvre, et cet article présente les résultats d’une enquête menée à l'échelle de l'Ontario pour nous aider à comprendre la nature des soins prodigués par les proches aidants.
Nous avons mené une enquête auprès des proches aidants de l'Ontario.Une des questions ouvertes de l’enquête a permis d'obtenir un ensemble substantiel de données qualitatives que nous avons analysées à l'aide d'une procédure de codage et de thématisation, ce qui a permis d’en dégager 13 thèmes.
Les 13 thèmes révèlent des lacunes dans le secteur des SLD en Ontario, des efforts déployés pour y faire face et des efforts pour influencer le changement et l'amélioration.
Nos résultats indiquent que les proches aidants jugent nécessaire d'assumer des rôles vitaux afin de combler deux lacunes du système actuel : ils fournissent des soins psychosociaux et affectifs (et parfois même des soins de base) aux résidents, et ils jouent un rôle de surveillance et de défense des droits pour compenser les failles du régime actuel défini par sa conformité à la réglementation.
Keywords
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- © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2024
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