Reducing social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Assessing the contribution of courtesy phone calls by volunteers.

ABSTRACT:

Context

During the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions were imposed on visits in hospitals in the province of Quebec, Canada in an effort to reduce the risk of viral exposure by minimizing face-to-face contact in order to protect patients, visitors and staff. These measures led to social isolation for patients. In order to reduce this isolation, CHUM (the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, a teaching hospital) shifted from in-person visits to courtesy telephone calls delivered by volunteers from CHUM's Volunteers, Recreation and Leisure Department.

Objectives

To study: (1) the contribution made by these calls to reducing isolation and their limitations, (2) how the calls can be improved, and (3) whether they should be maintained, based on the views of patients and v

SUBMITTER: Normandin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9067884 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature