The Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on specialist palliative home care. An online survey on experiences of involved professionals

Background: Professionals in specialist palliative home care face the challenge to adapt their working methods to the framework conditions required by the Covid-19 pandemic. Namely the stricter regulations in terms of hygiene and the restrictions on contact and visitation possibilities influence their central field of activity. Aim: In order to improve the preparation of specialist palliative home care with regard to coming pandemics, the following questions are of central interest: •What effect does the Covid-19 pandemic have on the care for critically ill and dying patients from a 'specialist palliative home care'-point-of-view? •Which solution approaches were developed? Methods: With the help of a newly developed online questionnaire based on the based on the results of focus groups, a Germany-wide recruitment of specialist palliative home care teams was carried out. The online survey was conducted between Oct. 2020 and Jan. 2021. IBM SPSS 26.0 software is used to analyse the data collected Results: 154 teams took part in this online survey. This represents a response rate of 43%. 55.4% of the teams have cared for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. 41% reported an increase in number of patients, 43.2% state that their everyday work changed. One example is the increase in telephone consultations. Nevertheless, 62% of the teams report that they have been able to provide patient care and symptom management as well as usual. One possible solution mentioned was the establishment of home office. Conclusion: The work of professionals in specialist palliative home care is affected strongly by the Covid-19 pandemic. The systematic recording of their experiences can have a positive impact on the care for critically ill and dying patients in times of a pandemic.