Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, 288 Church Street, Toronto, ON M5B 1Z5, Canada.
Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Saint Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jul 26;20(15):6446. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20156446.
This empirical research is part of a larger project beginning in 2020 and ongoing until 2023, exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young caregivers aged 5-25 years and their families in Canada. This qualitative research utilizes the social determinants of health as a conceptual framework and a collective case study design to emphasize the voices and experiences of service providers (professionals offering services to young caregiver clients) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and exploring their perspectives on the impact of the pandemic on young caregivers and their families. The central research question guiding this study was "How do service providers (professionals) working with young caregiver clients in Canada describe the impacts of the pandemic on themselves, their professional praxis, and on their young caregiver clients?" The aim of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the pandemic on young caregivers in Canada, from the perspectives of service providers, as well as to understand the experiences of service providers in their own voices. Data were collected from service providers working within three (3) different organizations offering programs and services to young caregiver clients in Ontario, Canada. In total, six (6) individual interviews were conducted with service providers who were directors/program managers, and four (4) group interviews were conducted with thirteen (13) service providers who were frontline staff members who worked directly with young caregivers and their families. In total, nineteen ( = 19) unique service providers participated in this study. Our findings point to two primary overarching themes, namely (1) service providers' responses to the pandemic and (2) observations by service providers about the impacts of the pandemic on young caregivers, and a secondary theme, (3) positive outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic on young caregivers, that emerged through the analysis. The pandemic led to increased demands for services by young caregiver clients. Service providers were required to adapt their service delivery methods in order to comply with public health guidelines. They shared how their work impacted their mental health as they struggled to maintain personal and professional boundaries while working from home during the pandemic. Importantly, service providers identified similar, simultaneous, and co-occurring impacts of the pandemic between their young caregiver clients, including isolation, difficulties in navigating online spaces, and challenges in navigating boundaries while working from home with family members.
本实证研究是一个更大项目的一部分，该项目始于 2020 年，持续到 2023 年，旨在探索 COVID-19 大流行对加拿大 5-25 岁的年轻照顾者及其家庭的影响。这项定性研究利用健康的社会决定因素作为概念框架和集体案例研究设计，强调服务提供者（为年轻照顾者客户提供服务的专业人员）在 COVID-19 大流行期间的声音和经验，并探讨他们对大流行对年轻照顾者及其家庭的影响的看法。指导本研究的核心研究问题是“在加拿大为年轻照顾者客户提供服务的服务提供者（专业人员）如何描述大流行对他们自己、他们的专业实践以及对他们的年轻照顾者客户的影响？”本研究的目的是从服务提供者的角度深入了解 COVID-19 对加拿大年轻照顾者的影响，并了解服务提供者在自己的声音中的体验。数据来自于在安大略省为年轻照顾者客户提供项目和服务的三个不同组织中的服务提供者收集。共有六名服务提供者（分别为主任/项目经理）接受了个人访谈，四名服务提供者（一线工作人员，直接与年轻照顾者及其家人合作）参加了四次小组访谈。共有 19 名独特的服务提供者参与了这项研究。我们的研究结果指出了两个主要的主题，即（1）服务提供者对大流行的反应，（2）服务提供者对大流行对年轻照顾者的影响的观察，以及一个次要主题，（3）大流行对年轻照顾者的积极影响，这是通过分析得出的。大流行导致年轻照顾者客户对服务的需求增加。服务提供者需要调整他们的服务提供方式，以遵守公共卫生准则。他们分享了在大流行期间在家工作时，他们如何努力保持个人和职业界限，同时努力工作，从而对他们的心理健康产生了影响。重要的是，服务提供者确定了年轻照顾者客户之间类似、同时和共同发生的大流行影响，包括隔离、在在线空间中导航的困难以及在家与家人一起工作时边界的挑战。
