Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Box 564, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden.
Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, 801 76, Gävle, Sweden.
BMC Geriatr. 2022 Aug 25;22(1):706. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03364-1.
Relatives of nursing home (NH) residents have experienced national or local restrictions on visiting their elderly family member during the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, many NHs have a multicultural environment, as staff, residents and their relatives speak different languages. Thus far, studies of remote communication with staff with limited language skills during the Covid-19 pandemic are lacking.
The aim of the present study was to explore relatives' experiences of encounters and communication with staff and residents in NHs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
An explorative qualitative study using semi-structured telephone interviews with 17 relatives of NH residents (12 women and 5 men). Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify four main categories and nine sub-categories.
Communicating during visiting restrictions was challenging, and relatives experienced ups and downs when trying to stay in contact with NH residents and staff. Relatives received general information, but desired information about residents' everyday life without having to ask for it. Moreover, remote communication was difficult for residents with hearing impairment or dementia. Even relatives who understood different languages had to develop strategies to communicate with staff with limited language skills in Swedish and English. Relatives did not mention using translating applications to facilitate communication.
During visiting restrictions, relatives lacked information about residents' everyday life and found communication with staff with limited language skills challenging. For this reason, and to enable communication with staff with limited language skills, there is a need to find practical and technical solutions for facilitating remote communication between relatives, residents and staff at NHs.
在新冠疫情期间，养老院（NH）居民的亲属经历了国家或地方对探访其老年家庭成员的限制。如今，许多 NH 都具有多元文化的环境，因为工作人员、居民及其亲属说不同的语言。迄今为止，关于在新冠疫情期间与语言技能有限的工作人员进行远程沟通的研究还很少。
本研究旨在探讨亲属在新冠疫情期间与 NH 工作人员和居民进行交流的经历。
采用半结构式电话访谈对 17 名 NH 居民的亲属（12 名女性和 5 名男性）进行了一项探索性定性研究。使用定性内容分析法对数据进行分析，以确定四个主要类别和九个子类别。
在限制探访期间进行沟通具有挑战性，亲属在试图与 NH 居民和工作人员保持联系时经历了起伏。亲属收到了一般信息，但希望获得有关居民日常生活的信息，而不必询问。此外，对于听力障碍或痴呆的居民来说，远程沟通很困难。即使是懂多种语言的亲属，也必须制定策略，用瑞典语和英语与语言技能有限的工作人员进行沟通。亲属没有提到使用翻译应用程序来促进沟通。
在探访限制期间，亲属缺乏有关居民日常生活的信息，并且发现与语言技能有限的工作人员进行沟通具有挑战性。因此，为了能够与语言技能有限的工作人员进行沟通，有必要为 NH 中的远程亲属、居民和工作人员之间的沟通找到实用和技术解决方案。
