City Research Online

Abstract

The care and support of older people residing in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic has created new and unanticipated uncertainties for staff. In this short report, we present our analyses of the uncertainties of care home managers and staff expressed in a self-formed closed WhatsApp™ discussion group during the first stages of the pandemic in the UK. We categorised their wide-ranging questions to understand what information would address these uncertainties and provide support. We have been able to demonstrate that almost one-third of these uncertainties could have been tackled immediately through timely, responsive and unambiguous fact-based guidance. The other uncertainties require appraisal, synthesis and summary of existing evidence, commissioning or provision of a sector- informed research agenda for medium to long term. The questions represent wider internationally relevant care home pandemic-related uncertainties.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of an article published in Age and Ageing. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
Publisher Keywords:	long-term care, COVID-19, pandemic, older people, uncertainties
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RT Nursing
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Nursing
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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