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. 2024 Mar 21:10:23779608241239314.
doi: 10.1177/23779608241239314. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.

Health Provider Experiences in Supporting Social Connectedness Between Families and Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care Homes

Anna Garnett  1 , Hannah Pollock  1 , Kristin Prentice  1 , Natalie Floriancic  1 , Lorie Donelle  2 , Carri Hand  1 , Abe Oudshoorn  1 , Yolanda Babenko-Mould  1 , Cheryl Forchuk  1
Affiliations

Health Provider Experiences in Supporting Social Connectedness Between Families and Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care Homes

Anna Garnett et al. SAGE Open Nurs. .

Abstract

Introduction: Many people, often older adults, living in long-term care homes (OA-LTCH) became socially isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic due to variable restrictions on in-person visits and challenges associated with using technology for social connectivity. Health providers were key to supporting these OA by providing additional care and facilitating their connections with family using technology such as smartphones and iPads. It is important to learn from these experiences to move forwards from the COVID-19 pandemic with evidence-informed strategies that will better position health providers to foster social engagement for OA-LTCH across a range of contextual situations.

Objective: This exploratory qualitative description study sought to explore health provider experiences in supporting social connectedness between family members and OA-LTCH within the COVID-19 context.

Methods: Qualitative, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 health providers.

Results: Using inductive qualitative content analysis study findings were represented by the following themes: (a) changes in provider roles and responsibilities while challenging for health providers did not impact their commitment to supporting OA-LTCH social and emotional health, (b) a predominant focus on OA-LTCH physical well-being with resultant neglect for emotional well-being resulted in collective trauma, and (c) health providers faced multiple challenges in using technology to support social connectivity.

Conclusion: Study findings suggest the need for increased funding for LTC to support activities and initiatives that promote the well-being of health providers and OA living in LTC, the need to prioritize social well-being during outbreak contexts, and more formalized approaches to guide the appropriate use of technology within LTC.

Keywords: families; health providers; long-term care; social connectivity; technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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