Based on this review, there does not yet appear to be an effective approach for preventing or managing TSA in adult oncology patients. Although some interventions show promise, further research is necessary to determine their efficacy.
Background
Care aides (certified nursing assistants, personal support workers) are the largest workforce in long‐term care (LTC) homes (nursing homes). They provide as much as 90% of direct care to residents. Their health and well‐being directly affect both quality of care and quality of life for residents. The aim of this study was to understand the impact of COVID‐19 on care aides working in LTC homes during the first year of the pandemic.
Methods
We conducted semi‐structured interviews with a convenience sample of 52 care aides from 8 LTC homes in Alberta and one in British Columbia, Canada, between January and April 2021. Nursing homes were purposively selected across: (1) ownership model and (2) COVID impact (the rate of COVID infections reported from March to December 2020). Interviews were recorded and analyzed using inductive content analysis.
Results
Care aides were mainly female (94%) and older (74% aged 40 years or older). Most spoke English as an additional language (76%), 54% worked full‐time in LTC homes, and 37% worked multiple positions before “one worksite policies” were implemented. Two themes emerged from our analysis: (1) Care aides experienced mental and emotional distress from enforcing resident isolation, grief related to resident deaths, fear of contracting and spreading COVID‐19, increased workload combined with staffing shortages, and rapidly changing policies. (2) Care aides' resilience was supported by their strong relationships, faith and community, and capacity to maintain positive attitudes.
Conclusions
These findings suggest significant, ongoing adverse effects for care aides in LTC homes from working through the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our data demonstrate the considerable strength of this occupational group. Our results emphasize the urgent need to appropriately and meaningfully support care aides' mental health and well‐being and adequately resource this workforce. We recommend improved policy guidelines and interventions.
Background: Multiple long-term care (LTC) reports have issued similar recommendations for improvement across Canadian LTC homes. Our primary objective was to identify the most common recommendations made over the past 10 years. Our secondary objective was to estimate the total cost of studying LTC issues repeatedly from 1998 to 2020. Methods: The qualitative and cost analyses were conducted in Canada from July to October 2020. Using a list of reports, inquiries and commissions from The Royal Society of Canada Working Group on Long-Term Care, we coded recurrent recommendations in LTC reports. We contacted the sponsoring organizations for a cost estimate, including direct and indirect costs. All costs were adjusted to 2020 Canadian dollar values. Results: Of the 80 Canadian LTC reports spanning the years of 1998 to 2020, 24 (30%) were based on a national level and 56 (70%) were focused on provinces or municipalities. Report length ranged from 4 to 1491 pages and the median number of contributors was 14 (interquartile range, IQR, 5–26) per report. The most common recommendation was to increase funding to LTC to improve staffing, direct care and capacity (67% of reports). A median of 8 (IQR 3.25–18) recommendations were made per report. The total cost for all 80 reports was estimated to be $23,626,442.78. Conclusions: Problems in Canadian LTC homes and their solutions have been known for decades. Despite this, governments and non-governmental agencies continue to produce more reports at a monetary and societal cost to Canadians.
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