Dementia and Covid19: experiences in care

Abstract

The care of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias has been undermined by the COVID-19 crisis, which has exposed shortcomings in clinical governance, created psychological tensions and renewed ethical questions about care procedures, as well as the social and societal problems associated with the epidemic. Certain groups were more affected than others: vulnerable people, health professionals, informal and professional carers. There are significant limitations in describing the experience of care for people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, as the description of care is often limited to the patient's perspective and quantitative indicators of clinical performance. The methods used to describe patients' experience of care are limited to a specific discipline (e.g. cognitive impairment, sociology or medicine) or take into account a limited number of care participants (e.g. dyadic doctor-patient relationships). A new holistic concept is needed to better describe the experience of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, their carers and health professionals.