gms | German Medical Science

Background and status of (inter)national research: Unpaid carers support people with long-term care needs in navigating health and long-term care (LTC) services and by providing personal care, help and support with daily tasks and ensure that people with care needs are safe and well. It has been well evidenced that many carers experience financial, physical and economic consequences.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought more political and policy attention to the LTC sector, the focus has been largely on residential care settings, where high mortality has been experienced. The focus on the impact on and support available to unpaid carers has been limited. In this work we map the available evidence on impacts on adult unpaid carers caring for other adults.

Question and objective: What are the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on unpaid carers of adults with LTC needs? What measures have been put in place to address these impacts?

Method or hypothesis: We conducted a rapid review of the available academic and grey literature of adult unpaid carers supporting adults with LTC needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: We divided the results into impacts on unpaid carers of people with LTC needs living in the community and of people living in residential care settings. For unpaid carers in the community the six key themes identified are: ‘care commitment, concerns related to COVID-19, availability of formal and informal support, financial implications, carer health and wellbeing and carers’ adaptability. The findings for carers of people in residential settings focus on the inability to visit and to monitor the situation as well as the difficulty in assessing their relative’s health status and wellbeing.

Finally, we identified the use of technology as well as the receipt of financial assistance and support for working carers as measures implemented to address some of the impacts identified in this rapid review.

Discussion: The rapid review has shown that some care groups, including women, younger carers, people with existing financial difficulties and Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers were at even greater risks of experiencing negative impacts.

The suspension of community services has highlighted the importance of services that enable unpaid carers to take breaks and to support them in their care responsibility. Technology may have the potential to support unpaid carers and people with LTC needs, however, it does not replace in-person contact and practical support.

Practical implications: Labour market interventions that provide carers with financial support during the pandemic have been found to have provided a degree of protection from economic hardship and enabled carers to compensate for the loss of previously available services. Social protection mechanisms, such as paid leave, direct payments and unemployment benefits were also helpful for carers.

Appeal for practice (science and/or care) in one sentence: In order to enable unpaid carers to continue to provide care and support to people with LTC needs they require policy recognition as well as financial and practical support.