Poster Session
Asynchronous - Online Only
College Students’ Experiences Providing Care for Older Family Members View Digital Media
Poster Session Man Wai Lun
Caregiving impacts the postsecondary education and career plans of young adults caring for their aging family members. Little is known about college aged caregivers’ experiences and perceptions of family caregiving, emotional well-being, and relationship quality with family members. An exploratory qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted with ten college students. The findings revealed that most students had a positive attitude towards providing care to their aging family members, even though there were negative impacts on their education and work life. Students’ willingness to continue their caregiving role and strengthen the quality of relationships with care receivers outweighed the difficulties and stress. Implications on providing support and assistance across campus are addressed.
It Is Not Only about Staying Alive: A Living Systematic Review of Social Care Strategies for Older Adults in Canadian Residential Care Facilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic View Digital Media
Poster Session Beverly Michel Baluyot, Anna Azulai, Alison Pitcher, Hongmei Tong
More than 80% of the COVID19-related deaths in Canada occurred in geriatric residential care facilities, such as long-term care, assisted living, and other types of congregate living settings for people over 65 years of age. To curb the mortality rate, strict public measures had been introduced in these care settings, resulting in some adverse psychosocial effects for older adult residents, including social isolation and exclusion, decreased social support, and other unaddressed social determinants of health. The goal of this presentation is to report the study findings about social care strategies used in Canadian geriatric residential care facilities during the pandemic years. Two specific objectives include: 1) Mapping social care strategies to address the social determinants of health; 2) Identifying specific gaps in addressing the social determinants of health in geriatric residential care facilities in Canada. Methods: This knowledge synthesis study employed a novel methodology of Living Systematic Review (LSR), following the Cochrane guidelines. Implications: As the first systematic review of social care strategies in geriatric residential care facilities at the time of the COVID19 pandemic, this study can inform social workers, nurse professionals, recreational therapists, occupational and physical therapists, clergy, personal support workers and other staff in geriatric residential care in Canada and beyond on a variety of social care strategies utilized to address social determinants of health of older adults in congregate living settings. The study also provides recommendations for future research, policy, practice and education for care of older adults in institutional settings.
Supporting Aging in Place in Rural Communities: Challenges and Opportunities View Digital Media
Poster Session Sigrid Mairhofer
The increase in the number of elderly people in need of care and the decline in population especially in rural areas due to the migration of the younger generations have a marked effect on the care of elderly people, especially in rural areas (Fachinger & Künemund 2015). Elderly people living in rural areas often are confronted with challenges regarding the public transport, the provision of services and life in the community (UNECE, 2017). Social work can act here as a bridging role between an increasing elderly population and the need for closer support. This contribution builds on a research project examining this bridging role by exploring the enabling structures in the home environment for elderly people in a rural area in Italy. The paper focuses specifically on the results of qualitative interviews with experts (professionals from local social organizations). A total of 10 interviews were conducted and analyzed. The results of the research project highlight both the critical aspects as well as the already existing potentials of the elderly in care close to home. This includes the importance of the cooperation between the social and health services, the need for low threshold offers and the necessity of outreach work. Outcomes shows that the access to support structures is particularly difficult for elderly people who are single or not already part of a network. For this target group, outreach work can be particularly helpful.
