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. 2023 Jan;49(1):35-41.
doi: 10.3928/00989134-20221206-02. Epub 2023 Jan 1.

Home-Based Care Provider Perspectives on Care Refusal During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jennifer B Inloes, Allyson Brown, Zoe Rettell, Donna M Fick, Sue Anne Bell

Home-Based Care Provider Perspectives on Care Refusal During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jennifer B Inloes et al. J Gerontol Nurs. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Acute and chronic disease management continues to shift toward a health care in the home model, yet literature discussing continuity of home-based care services during public health emergencies, such as infectious disease pandemics, is scant. In the current study, we used semi-structured telephone interviews with 27 home-based care providers (HBCPs) from Medicare-certified home health care agencies located in eight U.S. counties to explore older adults' decision making around home-based care service continuation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Four themes emerged, including two related to older adults' decision making around refusal of in-home care and two related to HBCPs' responses to care refusals. Fear of COVID-19 infection motivated older adults to make care-related decisions that were incongruent with their health needs, including refusal of care in the home, despite receiving education from HBCPs. These data highlight a need for tools to help HBCPs better support patients through decision-making processes about care continuation during COVID-19 and future infectious disease pandemics. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 49(1), 35-41.].

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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