Family Engagement in Services During COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Study of Caregiver and Staff Perspectives

Abstract

Introduction: We examined changes in family engagement before versus during the pandemic in pediatric and family services and perceived facilitators and barriers to family engagement.

Method: We employed a mixed-methods assessment of staff and caregiver perspectives related to pediatric and family medicine clinics and family resource centers in rural northern New England. We used narrative synthesis to analyze qualitative interviews (n = 29) and descriptive statistics for quantitative surveys (n = 108).

Results: Staff felt they were not doing as well at engaging families during versus prepandemic, identifying numerous facilitators and barriers. We found differences in resources used by families before versus during the pandemic. We identified discordant perspectives between caregivers and staff regarding how well clinics and centers identified and responded to family needs.

Discussion: Leaders in pediatrics, advanced practice nursing, and related fields can draw on our findings to decide what services and modalities they provide for postpandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; caregiver involvement; family engagement; pediatrics; social services.