An analysis of social media messages among home care staff on the COVID-19 front lines reveals their growing concern over how to manage in the face of the coronavirus. The results are found in “Seeking Answers for Care Homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” published in the journal Age and Ageing and shared in EurekAlert. The article focuses on messages sent and received via Whatsapp, a secure messaging platform for mobile phones. Thousands of Whatsapp messages between 250 home care workers during the first coronavirus wave show workers often asking questions that went unanswered due to a lack of proper guidance. Staff asked where to purchase PPE, whether guidelines existed for isolating residents returning from the hospital and how they could access testing. But guidance either did not exist, was conflicting or staff was not aware of it. WHAT’S THE IMPACT Home care staff formed the messaging group themselves in partnership with colleagues to offer support during the first wave. As group members, researchers analyzed the questions and uncertainties raised. They found most of the questions were about infection control and prevention and could have been tackled immediately through timely, responsive and unambiguous fact-based guidance. But their analyses revealed scant guidance, meaning…
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Struggles of care home staff during COVID-19 first wave revealed in Whatsapp messages
