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257 How virtual communication affects the mental stress of caregivers communicating with their loved one’s healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2024

Claire Petchler
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Martha Abshire Saylor
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
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Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The COVID-19 pandemic limited family caregivers’ in-person visits to their loved one’s healthcare appointments, and many switched to phone and video calls with their loved one’s healthcare providers. We sought to determine the relationship between virtual communication with their loved one’s healthcare providers and caregiver’s mental stress. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This research utilizes cross-sectional retrospective data from the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) Round VI (June 2021 – January 2022), a nationally representative cohort of caregivers of Medicare enrollees ages 65+. Caregivers reported the frequency of contact with their loved one’s healthcare providers and the healthcare provider’s rated helpfulness. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses will be performed in Stata to characterize how communication frequency between caregivers and their loved one’s healthcare providers may be associated with outcome variables including symptoms of anxiety and depression, as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) scales. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Analysis is ongoing. We anticipate that this research will help in determining significant symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 scales amongst caregivers according to their virtual communication use. In addition, we anticipate that results may vary based on sociodemographic characteristics including gender, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and level of education. Other possible covariates that might be associated with varying levels of stress in using virtual communication include caregiver’s health status and comfort with technology. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This research is important as many caregivers cannot attend their loved one’s healthcare appointments in-person, like in situations of geographic distance or inflexible work hours. Further, study results may identify stress disparities among caregiver sociodemographic groups for future targeted intervention.

Type
Health Equity and Community Engagement
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science