Impact of COVID-19 on the Health and Well-being of Informal Caregivers of People with Dementia: A Rapid Systematic Review

Background: In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or COVID-19, raised worldwide concern. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced health and wellness across the globe and caused nearly three million deaths. This study focuses on inform...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: M. Courtney Hughes PhD, MS, Yujun Liu PhD, MSW, Abby Baumbach
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2021-05-01
Series:Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211020164
Description
Summary:Background: In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or COVID-19, raised worldwide concern. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced health and wellness across the globe and caused nearly three million deaths. This study focuses on informal caregivers of people with dementia, a disease that affects about 50 million older adults worldwide and requires much caregiving support. Objective : Examine the current literature on the impact of COVID-19 on the health and well-being of informal caregivers for people with dementia. Method : This rapid review was conducted across five electronic databases for quantitative and qualitative articles published through March 15, 2021. Results : The 10 studies included in this review reported quantitative descriptive data from across the globe; however, no studies existed from the U.S. or East Asia countries. All of the studies examined the psychological rather than physical impact of COVID-19 and highlighted risk and protective factors in the areas of psychosocial (resilience, neuropsychiatric, and social isolation), sociodemographic (gender and education), and environmental (home confinement, living arrangement, and dementia stage). Conclusion : COVID-19 has had a considerable negative impact on the psychological well-being of informal caregivers of people with dementia, namely causing more depression and anxiety than pre-pandemic.
ISSN:2333-7214