Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Walters, Caroline
• Petrakis, Melissa

Titel

Mental Health Family Carer Experiences during COVID-19: A Rapid Scoping Review of the International Literature

Ist Teil von

• The British journal of social work, 2023-05, Vol.53 (3), p.1483-1505

Ort / Verlag

Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract Internationally, people experiencing mental health challenges and psychosocial distress faced service disruptions, increased uncertainties and isolation, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health family carers in turn experienced high levels of demand to fill gaps in service responses within a context of fear and uncertainty. A scoping narrative review methodology was undertaken to account for the varying methodologies of studies and the recency of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six databases were searched: Proquest, Ovid, Psych Info, CINAHL, Scopus, WHO COVID-19 database in January 2022. A total of 147 articles were identified, with 19 included in the final review. Findings revealed few studies focused on the experiences of mental health family carers during the pandemic. Studies that elevated mental health family voices identified they were more likely to provide emotional support than other carers, and less likely to receive government income support. Higher distress was present in family carers who lived with people with low independence, supported more than one person and provided higher levels of care. Family carers experienced concerns about—family members becoming infected during hospitalisations, accessing services, inappropriate and early discharges, care provision if family carers became unwell and the need for targeted responses and quality for online services. This article reports on a rapid scoping review of the literature covering the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions and process for the review were designed together by mental health family carers and researchers to understand the experiences, unmet needs and level of distress experienced by mental health family carers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article is needed because although mental health family carers may have similar experiences to other carers, they also have experiences and needs that are unique based on the episodic and often unexpected events they encounter. The review identified the increased responsibilities and loss of services faced by carers and the impacts these have emotionally, financially, socially and practically. Specific groups were highlighted in the literature, and one article clearly outlines the challenges faced by young carers who are often a hidden population of carers. The article ends with suggestions on how social workers and other health care providers can support mental health family carers to be recognised and valued.