ArticleInternational journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being2022
"It's the worst thing I've ever been put through in my life": the trauma experienced by essential family caregivers of loved ones in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
Article in International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding the Lived Experience of Family Caregivers of Loved Ones in Long-Term Care During COVID-19 Through Art.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Unveiling the Hidden Challenges: A Systematic Review of Self-Identified Caregiver Support Needs for Older Adults in Canada.Public health reviews · 2026Review
- COVID-19's Impact in Long-Term Care Facilities: The Health and Coping Strategies of Older Adults and Their Families.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Unveiling the impact: understanding long-term care workers' experiences and their perceptions of resident challenges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Using a Trauma-Informed Care Approach to Understand Family Caregivers' Experiences of Accessing Formal Supports in Dementia Care.Journal of family nursing · 2025Article
- Education and Training on Infection Prevention and Control Provided by Long-Term Care Homes to Visitors: A Scoping Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Review
- What Drove Clients' Decisions to Pause Personal Homecare Services Before and During the Pandemic?Health services insights · 2025Article
- The Perpetual Pivot: Understanding Care Partner Experiences in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Trust as a key measure of quality and safety after the restriction of family contact in Canadian long-term care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2023Review
- Examining the Director of Nursing Role in Long-Term Care: An Integrative Review.Journal of nursing management · 2023Review
- Article
- Care partner experience with telepresence robots in long-term care during COVID-19 pandemic.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEssential family caregivers (EFCs) of relatives living in long-term care homes (LTCHs) experienced restricted access to their relatives due to COVID-19 visitation policies. Residents' experiences of separation have been widely documented; yet, few have focused on EFCs' traumatic experiences during the pandemic. Objective: This study aims to explore the EFCs' trauma of being locked out of LTCHs and unable to visit their loved ones in-person during COVID-19.
methodsSeven online focus groups with a total of 30 EFCs from Ontario and British Columbia, Canada were conducted as part of a larger mixed-method study. We used an inductive approach to thematic analysis to understand the lived experiences of trauma.
resultsFour trauma-related themes emerged: 1) trauma from prolonged separation from loved ones; 2) trauma from uncompassionate interactions with the LTCH's staff and administrators; 3) trauma from the inability to provide care to loved ones, and 4) trauma from experiencing prolonged powerlessness and helplessness. DISCUSSION: The EFCs experienced a collective trauma that deeply impacted their relationships with their relatives as well as their perception of the LTC system. Experiences endured by EFCs highlighted policy and practice changes, including the need for trauma-centred approaches to repair relational damage and post-pandemic decision-making that collaborates with EFCs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.