A study to describe experiences and practices in EHPAD during the Covid-19 crisis

In hospitals for the dependent elderly (EHPAD), residents are confronted with illness and death while confined. This unprecedented situation is also painful for the staff who care for them, for their families and for their loved ones. We are faced with a new face of the end of life, emphasizes Régis Aubry, co-chairman of the Plateforme nationale pour la recherche sur la fin de vie. This Platform launched a study in early April on the end-of-life issues raised by the health crisis in these institutions.

Collect field data as soon as possible

The aim of this research is to collect field data as soon as possible to document the experiences and practices of professionals, families and residents explains Elodie Cretin, director of the Platform. In six French regions¹, an interdisciplinary team of sixteen humanities and social sciences researchers experienced in conducting interviews is interviewing healthcare professionals, social workers, psychologists, facility managers, volunteers and mortuary staff, as well as residents and their families², by telephone. They are interested in people's experiences, the anguish associated with confinement and the end of life, death, professional practices... A follow-up with families enables a focus on bereavement situations. The study also looks at the consequences of this crisis, the reactions it provokes and the coping strategies put in place.

This work is being carried out in special circumstances, due to the confinement, around an ethically sensitive subject. We may think that caregivers, families, residents, are physically and psychologically unavailable to take the time for a telephone research interview. But we also know that people at this time have a need to talk, to exchange, to tell what's happening to them , stresses Elodie Cretin. The data collected during the epidemic phase will be analyzed progressively, so that this experience can be mobilized as soon as possible. The study will make visible, at a distance from prejudices and media filters, the way in which professionals and residents are striving to cope with this crisis. The results will undoubtedly provide elements likely to influence policies to support ageing and solidarity with vulnerable people.

The Centre hospitalier universitaire de Besançon is the promoter of this research, while Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté is coordinating it, via the Plateforme³. The project is supported by the Société française d'accompagnement et de soins palliatifs (SFAP), the Société française de gériatrie et de gérontologie (SFGG), the Conseil national professionnel (CNP) de gériatrie, the Association des directeurs au service des personnes âgées (AD-PA) and the Comité analyse, recherche et expertise (CARE) Covid-19. It is funded by the Caisse nationale de la solidarité pour l'autonomie (CNSA), the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation (MESRI) and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

1. Ile-de-France, le Grand Est, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts de France, Bretagne and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
2. The link between researchers and EHPADs is facilitated, among others, by regional coordination networks, mobile palliative care and geriatric teams, regional health agencies, regional ethical reflection spaces and by the Association des directeurs au service des personnes âgées (AD-PA).
3. The National Platform for End-of-Life Research is supported by UBFC.

For more information:
Visit the page dedicated to the COVIDEHPAD study on our website

Author : Delphine Gosset
Published April 1, 2020 - Updated May 13, 2020