Care in times of Corona: Results of a cross-sectional study in German home care services Abstract. Background: People in need of care are particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to their age and previous illnesses. At the same time, a large number of daily contacts between nursing staff and those in need of care increase the risk of transmission of the disease.
Aim: The study aims to illustrate (I) to what extent home care services and semi-residential care facilities are affected by COVID-19, (II) human and material resources, (III) the care situation of those in need of care and (IV) the organizational handling of the situation and outline support requests to politicians.
Methods: More than 12,000 home-care nursing services and semi-residential care facilities were invited to participate in an online survey with quantitative and qualitative elements, 701 nursing services (response rate 7,3 %) and 96 semi-residential facilities (response rate 3,5 %) took part.
Results: Almost a third (30,1 %, 189 / 627) of the nursing services surveyed are affected by confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 among clients. About half of the services report a reduced use of SGB V (47,6 %, 288 / 605) or SGB XI services (59,7 %, 375 / 628). Two thirds of the semi-residential facilities (65,6 %, 63 / 96) say they are currently closed due to the pandemic. Likewise, half of the nursing services (45,8 %, 253 / 552) reported that care with reduced use of services was at risk / unstable or even not ensured.
Conclusions: The results show that the situation of care-dependent people served by home-care services in the present pandemic – and also with a view to a possible second wave – should receive increased attention particularly with regard to unstable / risky care arrangements.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Long-term care, home care, Nursing staff, Ambulante Pflege, Langzeitpflege, Personalsituation, Schutzmaterialien, protective material.,