Family Presence in Long-Term Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Call to Action for Policy Practice and Research

摘要

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization recognized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a global pandemic.(1) By March 27, 2020 public health states of emergency had been declared in all of Canada’s provinces and territories as a means of containing the rapid and exponential spread of COVID-19. This gave governments the authority to close schools, restrict business operations, and limit the size of public gatherings. Visitation restrictions in health-care settings were enacted, with all non-essential visitors prohibited from entering facilities. Congregate living residential homes for older adults, such as long-term care (LTC) and personal care homes, were included in these restrictions in order to reduce potential for risk of transmission between residents, staff, and visitors. Initially, visitation policies were highly restrictive, classifying spouses/partners and adult children of residents in the same category as entertainers, except for “compassionate care” reasons that were poorly defined and inconsistently applied. Over the ensuing months, policies became more flexible and allowed case-by-case assessment of visits deemed essential. Provincial policies continue to differ and lack detail regarding who would be responsible to classify a visitor as essential and what criteria would be used to make these judgments.(2)