“Families are a resource, not the enemy”: Canadian family caregivers' experiences of COVID-19 pandemic visitor restrictions

Abstract

Canadian long-term care homes implemented strict visitor restrictions at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to control the spread of the virus among residents. These restrictions extended to family caregivers, a significant provider of in-person physical and social care, preventing them from entering long-term care homes. The purpose of the current study was to explore the experiences and observations of family caregivers during the prolonged visitor restrictions. Fifteen semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with family caregivers of persons living in long-term care and analysed using a codebook thematic approach. Four themes were identified: a) pandemic policies dismissed family relationships; b) prolonged separation traumatised families; c) family caregivers were resourceful in fulfilling their roles; and d) family caregivers are calling for collaborative change. Our findings reflect how long-term care policies and standards that lacked a family-centred lens resulted in barriers to care and led to serious concerns about the quality of life of residents and serious distress among family caregivers.