CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2021 - 10

COLLEGE

More People
Choosing to Take
Care of Loved Ones
at Home Rather
Than Long Term
Care Facilities

By Dana Brandorff

OVID helped persuade me to take my
mother out of a nursing facility and
move her into our home with hospice, "
said Debbie Mitchell, who transitioned
her 96-year-old mother from Anthem
Memory Care in Littleton, Colorado to
a private home setting in March 2020,
just as the pandemic was beginning. The latest data from
the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
is from 2018 and shows that the number of patients in
hospice or a nursing home setting has remained steady.
However, 2020 data is not publicly available yet. So, the
full impact of the pandemic on nursing homes, hospice
facilities, and home care is not known.
" We are seeing that most people-including people
with COVID-19-want to stay at home, " said Edo
Banach, president & CEO of the National Hospice and
Palliative Care Organization. " Anecdotally, patients
and their families are fearful. They don't want to go to
the hospital or nursing homes unless they need to, and
they want to be able to visit and hug their loved ones.
Overall, there does seem to be an acceleration of the
trend toward home-based care. "

RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN THE COMMUNITY
In mid-March, Anthem Memory Care notified Mitchell
and others that COVID-19 was in the community
where her mother resided. Mitchell immediately
contacted the facility and asked if her mother had
been exposed. " They said, 'yes.' And because my
mother is very social and mobile it was challenging
to isolate and protect her. She also has dementia and
doesn't understand the meaning of social distancing

CU College of Nursing | Spring Summer 2021

Certified Nursing
Assistant Kerith
Earlix will be
graduating from
CU Nursing in May.
She helped Debbie
Mitchell take care of
her mother during
the pandemic.

or wearing a mask, " said Mitchell. Consequently, she and administrators had a frank conversation and within hours, her mother
was discharged and on her way home with hospice. " They were
honest, which I appreciated. They didn't feel they could keep her
safe. And I agreed. "
This same phenomenon continues to play out at many nursing home
facilities throughout the nation. Vaccines are helping, but the trend
of taking loved ones home is continuing. And it's not just because of
the fear of having access. According to Banach, " We think this trend
will continue because of economic reasons, in addition to patient
preferences. Home-based care is less expensive. "

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCREASE IN HOME CARE
Bristol Hospice has seen an increase in demand for home-based care,
said executive director Wendi Dammann. She said, " In the wake of
COVID, so many patients and families had to make difficult decisions that were right for them to keep their loved ones safe. " Factors
making it easier for families to care for loved ones at home included
working remotely, having more time, and being more comfortable
with hospice. Hospice is a service that is provided in whatever place
the patient calls home - that could be a nursing home, assisted living,
independent living facility, or residential home.
Before the pandemic, many families hesitated to care for their
aging relatives at home because of the logistical challenges, including work schedules, complicated medical regimens, and juggling
the needs of younger family members with those of older loved
ones. Many thought they did not have the skills to take care of
their relatives adequately.

CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2021

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