Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Department of Medicine, Center for Palliative Medicine.
Clin Gerontol. 2022 Jan-Feb;45(1):204-211. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2020.1830905. Epub 2020 Oct 19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented levels of social isolation which has negatively impacted older patients in particular on multiple levels. We present a case of an older patient with several complex psychosocial issues who was hospitalized and died from COVID-19. The social isolation required during the pandemic compounded patient and family stressors and diminished the patient's access to clinicians and to his usual support network and coping strategies. We describe how technology and tele-palliative care were utilized to reconnect the patient with clinicians and family and to provide clinical care that enhanced coping skills and support. Using telemedicine to restructure the approach to care was crucial in improving multiple domains of care and can be considered a resource for caring for older adults, especially during the challenging times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
新冠疫情大流行导致了前所未有的社会隔离，这对老年患者产生了多方面的负面影响。我们报告了一例患有多种复杂心理社会问题的老年患者，他因 COVID-19 住院并死亡。大流行期间需要的社会隔离加剧了患者和家属的压力，减少了患者与临床医生以及他通常的支持网络和应对策略的联系。我们描述了如何利用技术和远程姑息治疗将患者与临床医生和家人重新联系起来，并提供增强应对技能和支持的临床护理。使用远程医疗来重构护理方法对于改善多个护理领域至关重要，并且可以被视为照顾老年人的一种资源，特别是在 COVID-19 大流行带来的充满挑战的时期。
