The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Long-Term Care in Canada

This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LTC residents across Canada during the first six months of the pandemic, including how care changed for residents, using data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information's LTC and acute care databases. The results suggest that LTC residents received less medical care, with fewer physician visits and hospital transfers compared with the same period in 2019. They also had less contact with family/friends compared with the same period in 2019, which was associated with higher levels of depression. In provinces where it could be measured, the number of LTC resident deaths from all causes was higher than pre-pandemic years during the peak of the first wave, even in jurisdictions with few COVID-19–related deaths in LTC.
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research