COVIDEHPAD study
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed drastically the way we live. Elderly people living in nursing homes ("EHPAD" in France), their families and the professionals working there were particularly impacted by this crisis. In this context, it seemed essential to keep record of their experiences by collecting their testimonies as soon as possible (in order to not repeat the problem of the lack of data collected during the 2003 heat wave crisis). This is why the French National Platform for End-of-life Research is coordinating since the beginning of April 2020 a qualitative multicenter study to observe and analyze in real time the consequences of the pandemic in these institutions.
In six regions of France (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Hauts de France, Ile-de-France and Bretagne), researchers in human and social sciences conducted interviews with EHPAD professionals and, when possible, with residents and their families. These interviews help to understand the experiences and feelings towards confinement, end of life and death during the first wave of COVID-19 in France.
The analysis enlightens the impact of the situation on their perception of end of life and death. The aim of this research is to assess the diversity of situations and to show how professionals and residents tried to cope with this crisis and its consequences.
Contact
Elodie CRETIN
COVIDEHPAD study coordinator
elodie.cretin@ubfc.fr
Coordinator
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC) via French National Platform for End-of-life Research
- Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) de Besançon
Funder
- Caisse nationale de la solidarité pour l'Autonomie (CNSA)
- Direction générale de la Recherche et de l'Innovation (DGRI) of the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation (MESRI)
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Supports
- Société Française d'Accompagnement et de Soins Palliatifs (SFAP)
- Société Française de Gériatrie et de Gérontologie (SFGG)
- Conseil National Professionnel (CNP) de Gériatrie
- Association des Directeurs au service des Personnes Âgées (AD-PA)
- Comité analyse, recherche et expertise (CARE) Covid-19
Results
Publications based on data from the COVIDEHPAD study
- F. Balard, V. Caradec, M. Castra, A. Chassagne, G. Clavandier, P. Launay, C. Schrecker, H. Trimaille. Habitating in Ehpad at the time of Covid-19: The social logics of early confinement experiences. Revue des politiques sociales et familiales 2021 / 4 (°141), pages 31 to 48. English version
- A. Chassagne, F. Mathieu-Nicot, H. Trimaille, E. Cretin. Experiences of relatives of EHPAD residents who died during the first containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers, volume 33 number 2 (2022)
- F. Balard, F. Le Borgne-Uguen, C. Desbruyères, G. Bonnel, V. Caradec and M. Castra. Management teams facing uncertainty: managing the COVID-19 epidemic in retirement homes in France. Frontières, volume 33 number 2 (2022)
On video
Three webinars presenting the results of the study have been organized as part of the Rendez-vous de la recherche de la Caisse nationale de solidarité pour l'autonomie (CNSA) between January and May 2023:
- Habitating in EHPAD: in ordinary times and pandemic times
- Adaptations to professional practices in the context of initial containment
- Accompanying the end of life and treating the deceased in EHPAD during the first wave of COVID-19
COVIDEHPAD research group
Coordinators
National platform for end-of-life research
Régis AUBRY, physician, Platform co-chair
Elodie CRETIN, philosopher, director of the Platform
Investigators
The laboratories and researchers involved in the study are, by region of investigation:
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Centre Max Weber - UMR 5283
University of Saint Etienne
Gaëlle CLAVANDIER, anthropologist, senior lecturer
Camille IDJOUADIENE, anthropologist, master's student
Laure BOURDIER, sociologist, research engineer
Pacte, social sciences laboratory
Grenoble Alpes University
Cherry SCHRECKER, sociologist, university professor
Pauline LAUNAY, sociologist, post-doctoral fellow
Elizabeth MORILLE, sociologist, master's student
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Centre d'investigation clinique (CIC) 1431 INSERM
CHU de Besançon
Aline CHASSAGNE, socio-anthropologist, research engineer
Florence MATHIEU-NICOT, psychologist, research engineer
Hélène TRIMAILLE, sociologist, research engineer
Simon CALLA, sociologist, research engineer
Justine GROSPERRIN, sociologist, research engineer
Brittany
Laboratoire d'études et de recherche en sociologie (LABERS) - EA 3149
Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Françoise LE BORGNE-UGUEN, sociologist, university professor
Clément DESBRUYERES, sociologist, doctoral student
Grand-Est
Laboratoire Lorrain de Sciences Sociales (2L2S)
Université de Lorraine
Elodie FORNEZZO, sociologist, doctoral student
Laurena TOUPET, sociologist, doctoral student
Frédéric BALARD, sociologist, lecturer
Hauts de France
Centre de Recherches " Individus, Épreuves, Sociétés " (CeRIES) - ULR 3589
University of Lille
Michel CASTRA, sociologist, university professor
Vincent CARADEC, sociologist, university professor
Germain BONNEL, sociologist, post-doctoral fellow
Noémie GILLOT, sociologist, master's student
Esther SANSONE, sociologist, master's student
Ile-de-France
Laboratoire Sciences, Philosophie, Histoire (SPHERE) - UMR 7219
University of Paris
Mathilde LANCELOT, philosopher, maître de conférences
Maria Cristina MURANO, philosopher, post-doctoral fellow
Scientific Committee
Régis AUBRY, physician
Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine, Head of the Autonomy and Disability Unit, Besançon University Hospital - Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) 1431 INSERM - Integrative and Clinical Neurosciences Laboratory - EA 481 - University of Franche-Comté - Member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE)
Patrick BAUDRY, sociologist
Professor of sociology at Bordeaux Montaigne University - Associate researcher at the Laboratoire d'anthropologie des institutions et des organisations sociales (LAIOS) CNRS - EHESS
Elodie CRETIN, philosopher
Researcher in human and social sciences - Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) 1431 INSERM - CHU de Besançon - Associate researcher at the Logiques de l'Agir laboratory - EA 2274 - Université de Franche-Comté
Laurent CALVEL, MD
Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine - Head of the Service de soins d'Accompagnement, de soins de Support et de soins Palliatifs (SASP) at Strasbourg University Hospitals - President of the Collège national des enseignants pour la formation universitaire de soins palliatifs (CNEFUSP) of the Société française d'accompagnement et de soins palliatifs (SFAP) - Centre d'investigation clinique (CIC) 1431 INSERM - CHU de Besançon - Laboratoire neurosciences intégratives et cliniques EA 481 - Université de Franche-Comté
Marie GAILLE, philosopher
CNRS Research Director - SPHERE Laboratory - UMR 7219 CNRS - Université Paris Diderot - Deputy Scientific Director at the Institut des sciences humaines et sociales (INSHS)
Adrien EVIN, MD
Head of Clinic, Assistant Hospital Specialist - Palliative and Supportive Care Department, Nantes University Hospital
Clémence GUILLERMAIN, PhD student in philosophy of science
SPHERE Laboratory - UMR 7219 CNRS - Université Paris Diderot
Sophie PENNEC, demographer
Director of research at the Institut national d'études démographiques (INED) - Adjunct associate professor at The Australian National Universy (ANU)
Thomas TANNOU, MD
Geriatrics Department, CHU Besançon - Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) 1431 INSERM - Integrative and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory EA481, Université de Franche-Comté
Emmanuelle CAMBOIS, demographer
Research Director at the Institut national d'études démographiques (INED), member of the Mortalité, santé, épidémiologie and Démographie économique research units and co-director of the Vieillesse et vieillissements cluster - Director of the Institut de la longévité, des vieillesses et du vieillissement (ILVV)
Jean-Marie ROBINE, demographer, gerontologist
Research Director at INSERM - Centre de recherche médecine, sciences, santé mentale, société (Cermes3) - Molecular Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Dementias Laboratory - UMR-S 1198 - Director of Studies at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) - Associate Researcher at the Institut national d'études démographiques (INED)
Jean-Marie ROBINE, demographer, gerontologist
COVIDEHPAD presentations
Intervention by Élodie CRETIN on February 11, 2021 during the online seminar Vieillissements et fins de vie aujourd'hui co-organized by the Plateforme nationale pour la recherche sur la fin de vie and the Institut des longévités, des vieillesses et du vieillissement (ILVV).
Presentation of the COVIDEHPAD study on June 30, 2021 in Aubervilliers during the SHS and public health scientific meeting entitled Les effets de la pandémie de Covid-19 : Documenter, décrire, analyser, organized by CNRS and Campus Condorcet.
Presentation of the COVIDEHPAD study by Elodie CRETIN on September 15, 2020, as part of the interdisciplinary webinar "Penser la pandémie" Bourgogne Franche-Comté.
Podcast
Presentation of the COVIDEHPAD study by Pauline Launay, for the PACTE laboratory:
https://www.pacte-grenoble.fr/actualites/in-pacte-saison-2-pauline-laun…
Other
Find the COVIDEHPAD study on the World Pandemic Research Network
COVIDEHPAD in the press
- 2020-12-18: What happened in EHPADs during the first lockdown? Besançon PLUS grand.
- 20-08-28: A study of end-of-life and death in Ehpad during the Covid epidemic is launched. Hospimédia.
- 2020-08-26: Besançon at the heart of a national survey on Covid in EHPAD. L'Est Républicain.
- 2020-07-16: A scientific study coordinated in Besançon to find out how EHPAD staff and residents experienced the Covid-19 crisis. macommune.info
- 2020-06: A study to describe experiences and practices in EHPAD during the COVID crisis. page 12 of the special Covid issue of RCOM recherche, journal of the Besançon University Hospital.