The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many systemic gaps in the way we support older people’s health and well-being around the world. But one of the most serious gaps seen was in the way long-term care and support is provided to older people who need it. For example, many long-term care facilities restricted their residents from receiving visitors during the pandemic, generating negative impacts on residents’ mental health and revealing their social isolation. The pandemic also showed how care facilities particularly in less resourced areas were poorly equipped to prevent infectious diseases from spreading. Gaps such as lack of integration with health professionals and systems to low prioritisation of personal protective equipment meant that many long-term care facilities whose residents were already more vulnerable to illness saw dramatic deaths throughout the pandemic.
In the midst of such tragedy, Karla Giacomin – Director of the Fundacao Cuidadosa in Brazil – innovated to develop a new, grassroots initiative that supported long-term care facilities in Brazil in the context of the pandemic:
the National Front for Long-term Care Facilities (NF-LTCF). The NF-LTCF:
- Established a publicly accessible, national database on long-term care facilities promoting information exchange and provider accountability
- Advocated for the importance of supporting long-term care facilities during the pandemic, reaching over 600,000 people and organizations through digital channels
- Disseminated information about COVID-19 in care homes, including on how to reduce the spread of illness and emergency training manuals for care professionals
- Influenced policy discussions, leading to the issuance of emergency national legislation including the provision of 37 million USD to support vulnerable care facilities
All of these actions contributed to a reduction of COVID-19 attributable deaths in Brazilian care homes to 1.5%, in comparison to a rate of 10% in higher-income countries. Karla Giacomin’s leadership and advocacy work generated
enormous change for older people and their carers in Brazil – demonstrating the transformations and impacts that are possible to achieve when people stand together even in the most challenging of contexts.