The Impact and Implications of Covid-19

Following the countrywide lockdown in March 2020 hospices had to rapidly change the way they worked, how they cared for patients, and how they supported families. However, little is known about how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected hospice service provision, nor their impact on the lived experiences of receiving or providing hospice care during the pandemic. The aim of the study is to identify nationally relevant recommendations to mitigate the uneven relational, social and healthcare impacts of Covid-19 upon hospice services for vulnerable service users and those that care for them.

Method

This mixed-methods study uses two data collection methods: the collection of already existing quantitative and qualitative data and outputs created by the hospices in response to the pandemic (grey evidence); and, interviews with patients, carers, hospice staff, and with those responsible for hospice service design and provision.

We will use a transdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder, collaborative approach to synthesise and interpret the evidence. We will work with Marie Curie, as well as local and national stakeholders, to develop a series of reports to provide insight and understanding into changes that have taken place, as well as provide recommendations for local and national policy and practice. These reports will be issued throughout the project, to hospice service users, stakeholders, political leaders and civil society groups.

Outputs

This series represents the main reports arising from the project.  The study pages list the full range of publications and multimedia outputs.

Funding

The ICOH Study is funded by the ESRC under project ES/W001837/1 awarded to Dr John MacArtney (ORCID)