Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Nursing Home Residents’, Families’, and Staff’s Perceptions of Bioethical Principles: A Qualitative Study

Authors

GE Yimin XU Shengjia CAPRON Alexander M. KELLER Michelle S. HLÁVKA Jakub

Year of publication 2024
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source JOURNAL OF APPLIED GERONTOLOGY
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Economics and Administration

Citation
Web https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/07334648241249626
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07334648241249626
Keywords COVID-19; nursing homes; long-term services and supports; policy; qualitative methods; bioethics
Attached files
Description In this study, we employed a pre-interview survey and conducted interviews with nursing home staff members and residents/family members to understand their perceptions of whether the COVID-19 restrictions fulfilled obligations to nursing home residents under various principles, including autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and privacy. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with staff members from 14 facilities, and 20 with residents and/or family members from 13 facilities. We used a qualitative descriptive study design and thematic analysis methodology to analyze the interviews. Findings from the pre-interview survey indicated that, compared to nursing home staff, residents and their families perceived lower adherence to bioethics principles during the pandemic. Qualitative analysis themes included specific restrictions, challenges, facility notifications, consequences, communication, and relationships between staff and residents/family members. Our study exposes the struggle to balance infection control with respecting bioethical principles in nursing homes, suggesting avenues for improving processes and policies during public health emergencies.
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