"Why Couldn't I Go in To See Him?" Bereaved Families' Perceptions of End-of-Life Communication During COVID-19.

ABSTRACT:

Background/objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rapid changes to end-of-life care for hospitalized older adults and their families, including visitation restrictions. We examined bereaved families' perceptions of the quality of end-of-life communication among Veterans, families and staff in Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

Qualitative descriptive study using data from a survey of bereaved family members of Veterans administered from March-June 2020. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Setting

VA medical centers with the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases during the study period.

Participants

Next-of-kin of 328 Veterans who died in one of 37 VA medical centers' acute care, intensive care, nur

SUBMITTER: Feder S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8380436 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature