Articles: pandemics.
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Objectives: To identify factors associated with palliative care services being busier during Covid-19. Methods: Cross-sectional online survey of UK palliative care services (April to July 2020) (CovPall). Ethical approval was received from King's College London Research Ethics committee (LRS-19/20-18541). ⋯ Increased business was associated with homecare services (odds ratio [OR] 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15-3.25), nursing care at home (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.70-6.19), publicly managed services (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.11-4.34), Covid-19 cases (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.01), and staff shortages (OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.64-4.48). Conclusion: Services providing community care, and publicly managed services, may have been better able to respond to escalating needs during Covid-19. This has potential implications for both service delivery and funding models.
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Internal medicine journal · Mar 2022
COVID-19 Pandemic: End of Life Experience in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted those in residential aged care facilities (RACF). This research was undertaken to explore and better understand the effects of the pandemic on the experience of next-of-kin and carers who encountered the death of a loved one who resided within a RACF during the pandemic. ⋯ Findings identify the many COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges faced by participants and their dying loved one in RACF. Access to palliative care and bereavement support is crucial for dying residents and for grieving that has been made more difficult by the pandemic.
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To explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected exercise habits, we hypothesized that participants' physical activity would have increased by at least 30 min/wk after the onset of the pandemic. ⋯ Most participants decreased physical activity during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, expanding our understanding of how exercise habits change during stressful life events.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted health care workers (HCW). Most research focused on the adverse mental health effects during the initial surge of cases; and yet little is known about approximately how workers are faring 1 year into the pandemic. The objective of this study is to examine stress, burnout, and risk perception in an academic medical system, 1 year after the start of the pandemic. ⋯ While Although perceptions of risk declined over the course of the year, levels of stress still remained high despite high vaccination rates. Those who witnessed more COVID-19 deaths were more likely to report increased burnout and post-traumatic stress. As our nation continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and new variants emerge it is imperative to focus on recovery strategies for high burnout groups to ensure the wellbeing of our health care workforce.
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The geriatric population constitutes a large slice of the population of Western countries and a class of fragile patients, with greater deaths due to COVID-19. The patterns of healthcare utilization change during pandemic disease outbreaks. Identifying the patterns of changes of this particular fragile subpopulation is important for future preparedness and response. ⋯ During the pandemic, ED crowding increased dramatically, although the overall number of patients decreased, in the face of a percentage increase in those with high-acuity conditions, because of changes in patient management that have prolonged length of stay (LOS) and increased rates of access block. Overcrowding during the COVID-19 pandemic can be attributed to the Access Block. Access Block solutions are hence required to prevent a recurrence of crowding to any new viral wave or new epidemic in the future.