scholarly journals Methodological description of the mapping of Brazilian long-term care facilities for older adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Accioly Rodrigues da Costa Domingues ◽  
Patrick Alexander Wachholz ◽  
Christiano Barbosa da Silva ◽  
Lidiane Charbel Souza Peres ◽  
Paula Ferreira Chacon ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To describe the methodological approach adopted to build a database of long-term care facilities (LCTFs) in Brazil. METHODS: This exploratory research was conducted for 12 months, between August 2020 and July 2021, based on primarily publicly accessible data. First, the Unified Social Assistance System (Sistema Único de Assistência Social [SUAS]) database from 2019 was adopted as the primary source of information. In addition, public agencies and managers were consulted and invited to share their databases, while researchers and private entities collaborated by making their spreadsheets available. Data were organized in spreadsheets for each Brazilian state. LTCFs not catering to older adults (aged 60 years and over) were excluded. Duplicate data were excluded when overlaps were identified. RESULTS: This brief communication describes the methodology adopted for mapping the current status of Brazilian LTCFs. Despite its caveats, this study represents an important advance in the identification, characterization, and monitoring of these services nationwide. A total of 5769 facilities were found in the 2019 SUAS census. After excluding facilities not caring for residents aged 60 years or over, this number decreased to 2381 LTCFs. The consolidation and filtering of information from multiple data sources led to the identification of 7029 LTCFs throughout the country. CONCLUSION: Building a solid database was paramount to devising a national policy on long-term care. By including multiple sources, the scope of this survey was wider than all previous efforts and constituted an unprecedented collaborative experience in the country, including the potential to become the first national dataset for the Brazilian LTC sector.

Long-term care for older adults is highly affect by the COVID-19 outbreak. The objective of this rapid review is to understand what we can learn from previous crises or disasters worldwide to optimize the care for older adults in long term care facilities during the outbreak of COVID-19. We searched five electronic databases to identify potentially relevant articles. In total, 23 articles were included in this study. Based on the articles, it appeared that nursing homes benefit from preparing for the situation as best as they can. For instance, by having proper protocols and clear division of tasks and collaboration within the organization. In addition, it is helpful for nursing homes to collaborate closely with other healthcare organizations, general practitioners, informal caregivers and local authorities. It is recommended that nursing homes pay attention to capacity and employability of staff and that they support or relieve staff where possible. With regard to care for the older adults, it is important that staff tries to find a new daily routine in the care for residents as soon as possible. Some practical tips were found on how to communicate with people who have dementia. Furthermore, behavior of people with dementia may change during a crisis. We found tips for staff how to respond and act upon behavior change. After the COVID-19 outbreak, aftercare for staff, residents, and informal caregivers is essential to timely detect psychosocial problems. The consideration between, on the one hand, acute safety and risk reduction (e.g. by closing residential care facilities and isolating residents), and on the other hand, the psychosocial consequences for residents and staff, were discussed in case of other disasters. Furthermore, the search of how to provide good (palliative) care and to maintain quality of life for older adults who suffer from COVID-19 is also of concern to nursing home organizations. In the included articles, the perspective of older adults, informal caregivers and staff is often lacking. Especially the experiences of older adults, informal caregivers, and nursing home staff with the care for older adults in the current situation, are important in formulating lessons about how to act before, during and after the coronacrisis. This may further enhance person-centered care, even in times of crisis. Therefore, we recommend to study these experiences in future research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089801012110253
Author(s):  
Verónica G. Walker ◽  
Elizabeth K. Walker

Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (OADWS) often enter long-term care facilities with unique challenges related to trauma and stress experienced throughout their life course. Health care workers often report that when they work with this population, they feel unprepared due to limited training. In this article, life course theory is presented as a lens for holistic nursing research and as a way for nurses to adapt interventions already used with cognitively impaired older adults (e.g., those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease) for OADWS in long-term care. It is hoped that these ideas will facilitate discussion of ways to inform training for holistic long-term care of OADWS. Holistic principles of nursing addressed with life course theory as a lens include the following: (a) accounting for strengths and challenges; (b) honoring experiences, values, and health beliefs; (c) viewing interrelationships with the environment; and (d) nurturing of peace, wholeness, and healing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 102504
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cid ◽  
Rafael Sotelo ◽  
Mariana Leguisamo ◽  
María Ramírez-Michelena

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Eun Kim ◽  
Hyang Kim ◽  
Junghee Hyun ◽  
Hyojin Lee ◽  
Hyehyun Sung ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Alexander Seifert ◽  
Shelia R Cotten ◽  
Bo Xie

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has excluded older adults from a society based on physical social contact. Vulnerable populations like older adults also tend to be excluded from digital services because they opt not to use the internet, lack necessary devices and network connectivity, or inexperience using the technology. Older adults who are frail and are not online, many of whom are in long-term care facilities, struggle with the double burden of social and digital exclusion. This paper discusses the potential outcomes of this exclusion and provides recommendations for rectifying the situation, with a particular focus on older adults in long-term care facilities.


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