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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Patient Centered Health Systems
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2024.1440080
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancements and Challenges in Patient Centered Health Systems View all articles

Effects of COVID-19 Nursing Home Restrictions on People with Dementia involved in a Supportive Care Programme

Provisionally accepted
Omar Paccagnella Omar Paccagnella 1*Francesco Miele Francesco Miele 2Angelica Guzzon Angelica Guzzon 3Federico Neresini Federico Neresini 4Vincenzo Rebba Vincenzo Rebba 5Michela Rigon Michela Rigon 6Giovanni Boniolo Giovanni Boniolo 7
  • 1 Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
  • 2 Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
  • 3 Department of Economics, Ca 'Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Veneto, Italy
  • 4 Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, School of Human and Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage, University of Padua, Padua, Veneto, Italy
  • 5 Department of Economics and Management "Marco Fanno", University of Padova, Padua, Italy
  • 6 Fondazione OIC Onlus, Padua, Italy
  • 7 Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background Supportive Care is a person-centred approach encompassing non-pharmacological interventions targeted towards persons with dementia to contain the effects of their behavioural disorders, improving their quality of life. Aims To investigate the effects of lockdown restrictions during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on behavioural symptoms of patients involved in a Supportive Care programme in an Italian nursing home. Methods Analysis is based on Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scores and related symptoms data collected before (October/November 2019) and after (July 2020) the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions on a non-random sample of 75 patients living in two units of the facility: 38 involved in a Supportive Care programme and 37 receiving standard care (Control). Group performances were compared over time according to univariate statistics and Latent Class Analysis (LCA). Results NPI scores and number of reported symptoms in NPI evaluations increased over time among Supportive Care patients with dementia and decreased in the Control group. Differences are statistically significant. LCA resulted in 3-classes and 5-classes specifications in the two timeoccasions. Discussion Supportive Care patients showed a worsening in behavioural and psychological symptoms after the first pandemic wave, as opposed to the elderly not involved in the programme. LCA showed that patients in the two groups differed according to the combinations of NPI symptoms. Conclusions The discontinuation of a Supportive Care programme due to COVID-19 restrictions had strong negative effects on nursing home persons with dementia involved in the programme: Supportive Care interventions are important in controlling the psycho-behavioural symptoms associated with dementia.

    Keywords: COVID-19, Dementia, Neuropsychiatric inventory, Nursing Homes, Supportive Care

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Paccagnella, Miele, Guzzon, Neresini, Rebba, Rigon and Boniolo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Omar Paccagnella, Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy

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