ArticleBMC health services research2025
Expanded and unclear responsibilities: the evolving role of home care workers as a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic -a focus group interview study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHome care services, with the aim to support older adults in their homes, faced intense external pressure to create sustainable working conditions for staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have indicated elevated burnout and stress among residential care staff, and it is likely that similar challenges exist in home care services. Overall, the consequences for staff's work environment and health under the extremely strained conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic merit closer examination. Therefore, the aim is to illuminate home care workers’ experiences of their work environment and health risks while supporting older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsTo gain an in-depth understanding of personal experiences during the pandemic, five focus group interviews (FG) were held in northern Sweden during spring 2022. Open-ended questions were delivered via a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis was used to guide data analysis.
resultsExpanded and unclear responsibilities characterized the work environment during the pandemic. This was summarized into four sub-themes: my own health was jeopardized; a wind of change towards more responsibility; struggling between being a lifeline and being contagious; and organization and management as facilitators or hindrances.
conclusionsThe findings underscore the importance of management strategies and organizational preparedness to support staff’s mental health and mitigate challenges during crises. The health risks associated with increased workload, stress, and mental burdens were evident in the narratives. The study emphasizes the need to strive for a good work environment, set priorities to reduce workloads and mental stress, and incorporate time for recovery among staff during crises. It is also of great importance that different authorities in healthcare and social care create effective cooperation so that information, knowledge, and policies are effectively disseminated to frontline staff who have the concrete responsibility for our elderly.
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.