JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The prevalence of COVID-19 in the U.S. led to mandated lockdowns for long-term care (LTC) facilities, resulting in loss of in-person contact with social ties for LTC residents. Though information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used by LTC residents to support their socioemotional needs, residents must have access to ICTs in order to use them.

Objective:

This study explored ICT access and use in LTC institutions and how LTC institutions adapted to try to enhance social connections for their residents during COVID-19.

Methods:

LTC administrators in South Carolina were invited to complete an online survey exploring ICT access and use in LTC facilities and whether access and use changed as a result of COVID-19.

Results:

Seventy LTC administrators (12 nursing homes and 58 assisted living facilities) completed the online survey. Since March 2020, 53% of the LTC facilities purchased ICTs for residents’ use. ICTs have mainly been used for videoconferencing with family members (84%), friends (68%), and/or healthcare providers (70%). Benefits of ICT use included residents’ feeling connected to their family members, friends, and/or other residents. Barriers to ICT use included staff not having time to assist residents with using the technology, broken technology, and residents who do not want to share technology.

Conclusions:

Results of this exploratory study suggest that over half of the LTC institutions in this study were able to acquire ICTs for their residents to use during COVID-19. Additional research is needed to explore how residents adapted to using the ICTs and whether LTC facilities developed and/or adopted technology integration plans, which could help them be prepared for future situations that may affect LTC residents’ engagement and communication opportunities, such as another pandemic.