Pandemic Preparedness and Beyond: Person-Centred Care for Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Amy T Hsu; Geetha Mukerji; Anne-Marie Levy; Andrea Iaboni

doi:10.12927/hcq.2022.26983

Pandemic Preparedness and Beyond: Person-Centred Care for Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthc Q. 2022 Dec;25(SP):13-19. doi: 10.12927/hcq.2022.26983.

Authors

Amy T Hsu¹, Geetha Mukerji², Anne-Marie Levy³, Andrea Iaboni⁴

Affiliations

¹ Investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute and a lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, ON. She holds the University of Ottawa Brain and Mind-Bruyère Research Institute Chair in Primary Health Care in Dementia. Her research uses population-level health administrative data at ICES to examine older adults' health and healthcare needs, especially those living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
² Clinician in Quality and Innovation at the Women's College Hospital Institute of Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Toronto, ON. Her research interests include the development and evaluation of innovative models of care delivery including virtual models.
³ Research associate in the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, and a clinical research coordinator in the Geriatric Psychiatry Department, University Health Network in Toronto, ON. Her research centres on the use of technologies and interventions to improve the quality of life for people living with cognitive impairments.
⁴ Geriatric psychiatrist based at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, in Toronto, ON. Her research focuses on developing new models of dementia care by making use of physiological and behavioural data from environmental sensors, work around mobility and falls prevention, the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia and the prevention of injury through rational use of psychotropic medications in frail older adults.

PMID: 36562579
DOI: 10.12927/hcq.2022.26983

Abstract

The increasing complexity of residents' needs, emphasis on social distancing and limited access to high-quality support presented challenges to patient-centred care during the pandemic. Yet the pandemic created an opportunity to explore novel approaches to achieving person-centred care within long-term care (LTC). We share three projects designed to enhance care delivery in the context of the pandemic: to address personhood needs during outbreaks, to improve the quality of medical care and to deliver personalized palliative and end-of-life care using a prediction algorithm. These projects enabled better care during the pandemic and will continue to advance person-centred care beyond the pandemic.

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
Long-Term Care
Pandemics
Patient-Centered Care
Terminal Care*