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The Italian experience in protecting older people during COVID-19: lessons learned for long-term care facilities (LTCF)
- Authors:
- BUZELLI Maria Luisa, BOYCE Tammy
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Long-Term Care, March 2022, pp.61-70. Online only
- Publisher:
- King's College London
- Place of publication:
- London
Context: Older people living in LTCF were particularly affected by COVID-19. Italy was the first country in Europe to experience high death rates among older people. Analysing the factors which may have determined high mortality rates in LTCF and identifying actions to safeguard older people's health in long-term care settings may be critical for future public health emergencies. Objectives: Identify the main challenges and failures faced by a small number of Italian professionals working in LTCF and suggest key actions to better protect older people's health in future emergencies. Methods: Rapid survey conducted among Italian professionals working in the LTC sector in Italy during the pandemic. Findings: Several factors contributed to higher death rates in LTCF for older people in Italy. To better protect LTCF residents in case of future health emergencies, actions need to be implemented in relation to LTCF’s management, governance and capacity building. Furthermore, safety plans and strategies need to be put in place to ensure older residents' protection and maintain high level of care in LTCF during public health emergencies, such as COVID-19. Limitations: The article reflects the opinions of a limited number of professionals working in the long-term care sector, which may not be representative of all workers operating in the sector. Implications: Policy and system changes are needed to strengthen the capacity of the Italian long- term care sector to respond to the needs of a growing older population in the context of COVID-19 and beyond. (Edited publisher abstract)
Organizational support experiences of care home and home care staff in Sweden, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Authors:
- LETHIN Connie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Healthcare, 9(6), 2021, p.767. Online only
- Publisher:
- Molecular Diversity Preservation International and Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected care workers all over the globe, as older and more vulnerable people face a high risk of developing severe symptoms and dying from the virus infection. The aim of this study was to compare staff experiences of stress and anxiety as well as internal and external organizational support in Sweden, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) in order to determine how care staff were affected by the pandemic. A 29-item online questionnaire was used to collect data from care staff respondents: management (n = 136), nurses (n = 132), nursing assistants (n = 195), and other healthcare staff working in these organizations (n = 132). Stress and anxiety levels were highest in the UK and Germany, with Swedish staff showing the least stress. Internal and external support only partially explain the outcomes. Striking discrepancies between different staff groups’ assessment of organizational support as well as a lack of staff voice in the UK and Germany could be key factors in understanding staff’s stress levels during the pandemic. Structural, political, cultural, and economic factors play a significant role, not only factors within the care organization or in the immediate context (Edited publisher abstract)
The impact of Covid-19 on nursing homes in Italy
- Authors:
- ARLOTTI Marco, RANCI Costanzo
- Publisher:
- Politecnico di Milano
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 8
This brief note examines the interplay between the institutional context of care homes in Italy and the spread of the pandemic. As they faced the pandemic, care homes had both internal and external problems. On the internal side, they had to face the entry of the virus into their structures with inadequate medical staff and insufficient resources and capacity to implement distancing and other preventive actions. They were also unable to provide adequate health care to their Covid-19 patients, and very often unable to send them to hospitals. On the external side, their situation was ignored for a long time by policy makers, who were mainly focused to face the emergency in hospitals. The national lockdown of nursing homes regarding the access of relatives and external visitors – a crucial measure in order to prevent possible transmission of infection – was established only on March 4, about two weeks later the spreading of the infection. Furthermore, for many weeks not adequate attention has been paid to testing and monitoring activities among healthcare staff and patients: a priority for the implementation of such preventive activities in nursing homes was established only at the beginning of April. The paper argues that most of the criticalities came from the pre-existent difficult condition of these institutions. The more nursing homes have specialised in the intensive-health treatment of seriously non-self-sufficient elderly, the more the quality of their services had been hampered by very precarious financial and organisational conditions, co-determined by the lack of public investment in these structures. The pandemic has acted as a “focusing event”, revealing the structural weakness of this sector and the main critical problems affecting it. (Edited publisher abstract)
Defining responsibility for care: approaches to care of older people in six European countries
- Author:
- BLACKMAN Tim
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 9(3), July 2000, pp.181-190.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article examines the social care of older people in six contrasting European countries. Family, institutional and community care are compared, focusing on vulnerability, empowerment and the gatekeeping of resources. The article considers the position of older people in each care system by presenting individual case studies. The six countries include the family-oriented systems of Ireland, Italy and Greece, and the individual-oriented systems of Denmark, Norway and England. Overall, the different levels of provision of organised social care services are a major aspect of inequality within and between the countries. Whilst there is little prospect for any major policy transfer across national boundaries, there is potential for selective cross-national learning with regard to particular service developments.
The quality of care in residential homes for the elderly
- Authors:
- FRANCI A., CORSI M.
- Journal article citation:
- Management Issues in Social Care, 2(5), April 1998, pp.33-40.
- Publisher:
- OLM Systems
Presents an Italian study which attempts to apply easily measurable, objective variables, which may have possible implications on the quality of care, and indirectly on the quality of life of elderly people in residential homes.
Services for the elderly and disability in Italy
- Author:
- MENGANI Massimo
- Publisher:
- Italian National Research Centres on Aging
- Publication year:
- 1991
- Pagination:
- 49p.,tables,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Ancona, Italy
COVID-19 and policies for care homes in the first wave of the pandemic in European welfare states: Too little, too late?
- Authors:
- DALY Mary, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 32(1), 2022, pp.48-59.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article examines COVID-19 and residential care for older people during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, comparing a range of countries – Denmark, England, Germany, Italy and Spain – to identify the policy approaches taken to the virus in care homes and set these in institutional and policy context. Pandemic policies towards care homes are compared in terms of lockdown, testing and the supply of personal protective equipment. The comparative analysis shows a clear cross-national clustering: Denmark and Germany group together by virtue of the proactive approach adopted, whereas England, Italy and Spain had major weaknesses resulting in delayed and generally inadequate responses. The article goes on to show that these outcomes and country clustering are embedded in particular long-term care (LTC) policy systems. The factors that we highlight as especially important in differentiating the countries are the resourcing of the sector, the regulation of LTC and care homes, and the degree of vertical (and to a lesser extent horizontal) coordination in the sector and between it and the health sector. (Edited publisher abstract)
Impact and mortality of COVID-19 on people living with dementia: cross-country report
- Authors:
- SUAREZ-GONZALEZ Aida, et al
- Publisher:
- International Long Term Care Policy Network
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 31
- Place of publication:
- London
This report brings together international evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with dementia and an overview of international policy and practice measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 among people living with dementia. It draws on data from nine countries: United Kingdom (UK), Spain, Ireland, Italy, Australia, the United States (US), India, Kenya and Brazil. The analysis indicates that the share of people whose deaths were linked to COVID-19 in care homes who had dementia ranges from 29% to 75% across those countries. Within countries, people with dementia account for 25% of all COVID-19 related deaths in England and Wales, 31% in Scotland and 19% in Italy. In many places, the basic human rights of people with dementia may have been compromised during the pandemic. These rights include access to Intensive Care Units, hospital admissions, health care and palliative care. The controversial ban on visits (including spouses and care partners) to care homes across the world, have kept people with dementia detached from essential affective bonds and provision of family care for many months. The report argues that guidance and tools to support institutions and practitioners to respond better to the needs of people with dementia during the pandemic are needed as a matter of urgency. Confinement, isolation and many of the challenges brought about by the pandemic are detrimental to the cognitive and mental health symptoms in people with dementia across the world, both those living in the community and care homes. This report offers a list of short-term and long-term actions needed to ensure that people with dementia are not being left behind in this pandemic or future ones. (Edited publisher abstract)
European healthcare: care homes report 2014
- Author:
- KNIGHT FRANK
- Publisher:
- Knight Frank
- Publication year:
- 2014
- Pagination:
- 12
- Place of publication:
- London
This report explores the market composition, structure and context of continental Europe’s four largest care home markets: France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Demand for elderly care is expected to rise significantly, as decreasing fertility rates, coupled with increasing overall life expectancy, are driving up the share of elderly in the population. The growing number of elderly will impact on future demand for long-term care (LTC) services. However, while all types of LTC services are set to increase, they will not do so uniformly. Homecare, the preferred service line for most European countries in recent years, will prove to be inefficient given the rising share of patients with specialised medical needs. Additionally, societal changes, including declining family size, increasing childlessness and rising non-traditional living arrangements, mean that care homes will play a crucial role in caring for the increasing elderly population. The report shows that the somewhat restrictive domestic care home market has driven French-based operators towards further expansion abroad and a greater diversification of services. In Germany, while there remains an acute shortage of beds, the market has experienced an increased level of consolidation in recent years, as well as a string of acquisitions by foreign operators and private equity firms. The recent economic revitalisation has brought greater investor interest in Spain while the Italian care home market remains ripe for new development and investment. The relatively small size of the Italian industry, coupled with the considerable level of market fragmentation, means there is substantial room for new entrants and potentially greater consolidation of private and non-profit homes. (Edited publisher abstract)
The effects of a physical activity programme on the psychological wellbeing of older people in a residential care facility: an experimental study
- Authors:
- CIAIRANO Silva, LIUBICICH Monica Emma, RABAGLIETTI Emanuela
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 30(4), May 2010, pp.609-626.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study analyses the physical and psychological benefits associated with physical exercise sessions given by 6 specially trained instructors on older people living in a northern Italian residential care home. Previous research, mostly focusing on older people living independently suggests that physical exercise (formal or e.g. gardening or housekeeping) may minimise or reverse physical frailty and spontaneously boost basic activities such as unassisted dressing and washing, while formal physical exercise programmes in nursing home residents decreased depression and anxiety levels and increased cognitive functioning. The effects of such aerobic activity interventions on the residents’ general health perceptions, perceptions that health limits moderate to heavy physical exercise, and positive and negative self-perceptions were assessed. Twenty two, mixed gender, self-sufficient, older people (10 control, 12 test - given two 45 minute sessions for 13 weeks over 5 months) of average age 80.6 years, completed the Italian version of the 36-item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire, pre and post-test. The findings showed that the perception that one’s health can limit moderate to heavy physical activity decreased post intervention in the test group while it increased in the control group, positive self-perception remained stable in the test group but it was reduced in the control group and that there was no interaction between group and time with respect to general health perceptions and negative self-perception.