Autonomy Research Events
Three of these webinars focused on the findings of the COVIDEHPAD study, which describes and analyzes how nursing home professionals, residents, and their families coped with lockdown, end-of-life care, death, and bereavement during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fourth webinar presents the outcomes of a literature review.
Living in a nursing home : in ordinary times and during the pandemic
Monday, January 23, 2023
Interviews conducted with 37 residents across 15 facilities highlighted varied experiences of the first lockdown, depending on how they "inhabited" their nursing home. Residents who were already confined to their rooms noticed little change from their pre-pandemic life, while those who frequently used shared spaces experienced the lockdown as a significant deprivation. Meanwhile, residents oriented toward life outside the facility emphasized the loss of freedom to move about. Three additional factors also shed light on their lockdown experiences: the specific lockdown measures implemented by each nursing home, the occupational and relational resources available within the facilities, and the residents' personal life trajectories prior to the pandemic.
Invited guests:
Frédéric BALARD, senior lecturer in sociology
Pauline LAUNAY, post-doc.
Laboratoire lorrain de sciences sociales (2L2S), Université de Lorraine.
Discussant:
Stéphane CORBIN, Deputy Director, CNSA
Adaptations of professional practices in the context of first containment
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Between February and May 2020, the entry of the virus and the excess mortality in retirement homes generated strong uncertainties with which professionals had to come to terms. Based on an interview survey of 58 professionals working in 13 nursing homes, two types of findings are highlighted. On the one hand, management worked to overcome the shortage of protective equipment, while coordinating physicians drew on knowledge acquired through experience of previous epidemics, while constantly updating and disseminating medical and scientific knowledge. On the other hand, these teams have had to modify the internal workings of all the professionals: presence in spaces, division of labor (task shifting), which has generated practical and symbolic overwork.
Invited guests:
Françoise LEBORGNE-UGUEN, professor of sociology and Clément DESBRUYERES, doctoral student in sociology
Laboratoire d'études et de recherche en sociologie (LABERS) - EA 3149, doctoral student in sociology, Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Discussant:
Romain GIZOLME, Director, Association des directeurs au service des personnes âgées (AD-PA)
End-of-Life Care and Treatment of the Deceased in Nursing Homes During the First Wave of COVID-19
Thursday, May 11, 2023
End-of-life care for residents was complicated by the urgency of the situation and staff shortages. Professionals describe an accelerated pace of work and express regret that they were not always able to provide "dignified" support to residents, who were severely deprived of visits from loved ones during the first lockdown. Under normal circumstances, professionals consider end-of-life care to be an essential dimension of their caregiving work. However, the conditions during the first lockdown limited both the duration and quality of interactions. Physical touch and displays of affection—usually central to their practice—were restricted by health protocols. This disruption to the relational aspect of care challenged the shared values of these professionals. Furthermore, the handling of the body and remains did not allow for the usual rituals that give meaning to end-of-life care and death.
Invited guests:
Aline CHASSAGNE, socio-anthropologist, senior lecturer, Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) 1431 INSERM, University of Besançon CHU de Besançon & Université de Franche-Comté
Germain BONNEL, sociologist, University of Lille
Discussant:
Régis AUBRY, associate professor of palliative medicine, CHU de Besançon, member of the Comité consultatif national d'éthique (CCNE) and principal investigator of the COVIDEHPAD study.
Talking about End-of-Life and death with people losing their autonomy
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Presentation of the results of a literature review on the conditions under which dependent and disabled elderly people discuss end-of-life with family carers or professionals, and this in a non-hospital setting. This review also seeks to identify gaps in the existing literature. It uses the PRISMA methodology and includes publications in English and French, from the year 2000 to March 2023, in the fields of social sciences. A total of 28 articles were included. The results of these contributions tend to indicate that discussions on end-of-life issues are infrequent due to various problems encountered in the process, the main one emanating from communication difficulties linked to the disabilities of this population. Despite the diversity of disabled and elderly populations, the majority of publications focus on specific subgroups, namely frail elderly people with or without mild dementia and people with mild intellectual disabilities, thus leaving a significant part of the target population unexplored.
Invited guests:
Sabine JOBEZ, Project Officer for a Literature Review, French National Platform for End-of-Life Research
Discussant:
Marie-Odile VINCENT, psychologist, director of nursing home Jacques Bonvoisin in Dieppe.