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The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada
Newman, K.; Chalmers, H.; Wang, A.Z.Y.; Ciotti, S.; Luxmykanthan, L.; Mansell, N. The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6410.
Newman, K.; Chalmers, H.; Wang, A.Z.Y.; Ciotti, S.; Luxmykanthan, L.; Mansell, N. The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6410.
Newman, K.; Chalmers, H.; Wang, A.Z.Y.; Ciotti, S.; Luxmykanthan, L.; Mansell, N. The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6410.
Newman, K.; Chalmers, H.; Wang, A.Z.Y.; Ciotti, S.; Luxmykanthan, L.; Mansell, N. The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6410.
Abstract
This qualitative research study is a part of a larger research project exploring the experiences of young caregivers aged 5-26 years and their families navigating the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 to 2023. Data was collected from 14 young caregivers who participated in baseline interviews. The central research question guiding this study: What was, is, and will be the impact of changing public health restrictions on young caregivers and their families during the pandemic and pandemic recovery? Seven themes emerged through analysis: 1) Navigating Care During the Height of Public Health Restrictions, 2) Neighbourhood and Built Environment During the Pandemic, 3) Perceptions Towards COVID and Public Health Restrictions/Efforts, 4) The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Relationships, 5) Mental Health Challenges of Being a Young Caregiver During a Pandemic, 6) Navigating Formal Services and Supports and 7) Recommendations from Young Caregivers. The findings from this empirical research suggest that young caregivers found it easier to navigate their caregiving responsibilities when public health restrictions and work-from-home mandates were initially implemented, however, this later changed due to challenges in finding respite from caregiving, maintaining social connections with friends, creating personal space at home, and finding adequate replacements of programs once offered in-person.
Keywords
young caregiver; baseline interviews; pandemic; qualitative; COVID-19; longitudinal; social determinants of health
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
