COPING WITH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN LONG-STAY INSTITUTIONS FOR THE ELDERLY IN A CITY IN THE INLAND OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO

Abstract

Among the elderly, the group that was particularly affected by Sars Cov-2 were residents of Long-Term Institutions for the Elderly (LTCF), due to the aspects inherent to the elderly and the LTCF, as some of the elderly are frail, have a certain degree of functional dependence and advanced age and comorbidities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, policies have been adopted based on recommendations from government health bodies and scientific societies to better combat and mitigate COVID-19 in LTCFs. Therefore, this research was developed with the objective of describing the fight against COVID-19 in the ILPIs of Botucatu - SP, regarding governmental and ILP aspects, based on a retrospective and descriptive cross-sectional observational study that obtained data from the managers of the ILPIs of Botucatu. For this purpose, two questionnaires were developed that addressed sociodemographic items of managers and employees, characteristics of the ILPI and method of coping with COVID-19, with a descriptive analysis of the data subsequently being carried out. The questionnaire was sent to 22 ILPI managers in Botucatu and six responded. All LTCFs developed a plan to combat the pandemic in May 2020, including restrictions on external visits, which were resumed in November 2021. They all had the possibility of having a specific room for the isolation of respiratory symptoms and these factors were decisive in justifying the picture presented regarding the low level of mortality due to COVID 19 within the institutions.