NUR 590 Based on the PICOT you developed for NUR 550 Summarize the Intervention you are Proposing

NUR 590 Based on the PICOT you developed for NUR 550 Summarize the Intervention you are Proposing Sample Answer

Alzheimer’s patients were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 (Azarpazhooh, 2020; Wang, 2021). While there is a biologic/genetic component to the mortality rates (Wang et al., 2020), it is unknown whether the quarantine induced social isolation contributed to mortality rates. Since COVID-19 vaccines have high efficacy (CDC, 2021) and have increased the safety of the elderly in community settings, it has become more common for facilities to allow Alzheimer’s family member act as a caregiver and advocate.

The importance of family/friends to Alzheimer’s patients can not be denied. During the initial COVID-19 lock-downs of community settings and long-term care, dementia patients neuropsychiatric symptoms and confusion increased due to the dramatic change and loss of their loved ones (Boutoleau-Bretonnière,2020). Therefore, during the pandemic, caregivers were eventually allowed into the facilities for compassionate visitation.

The question facing the community as it faces future pandemics and lock-downs, is how to keep the Alzheimer’s patients safe without the dramatic social isolation from their family caregivers. Therefore, like paid caregivers and medical staff, family caregivers should receive basic infection control training.

The PICOT is defined by:

Will educating Alzheimer’s’ caregivers in disease transmission control help reduce community acquired infections in Alzheimer’s patients living in community settings (i.e., long term care or assisted living) over a 3-month period?

Population: Alzheimer’s patients

Intervention: disease transmission education

Comparison: education complete versus not

Outcome: reduce community acquired infections (i.e. COVID-19, pneumonia, etc.)

Time period: 3 months

By educating family caregivers, it adds to the resources of the community settings. In the case of long-term care, the patient receives better care from their family member with staff support and reduces demands on staff time. This reduces staff stress and caseload while increasing the availability of staff to other patients.

References

• Azarpazhooh, M. R., Amiri, A., Morovatdar, N., Steinwender, S., Rezaei Ardani, A., Yassi, N., Biller, J., Stranges, S., Tokazebani Belasi, M., Neya, S. K., Khorram, B., Sheikh Andalibi, M. S., Arsang-Jang, S., Mokhber, N., & Di Napoli, M. (2020). Correlations between COVID-19 and burden of dementia: An ecological study and review of literature. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 416, 117013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2020.117013
• Boutoleau-Bretonnière, C., Pouclet-Courtemanche, H., Gillet, A., Bernard, A., Deruet, A., Gouraud, I., Mazoue, A., Lamy, E., Rocher, L., Kapogiannis, D., El Haj, M. (2020). The effects of confinement on neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 76(1):41-47. doi: https://10.3233/JAD-200604. PMID: 32568211.