The COVID-19 pandemic changed routine case management of older patients. Case managers have had to more creative in finding community resources and post-acute referrals for patients since many organizations were closed or limited in their services for months.
The COVID-19 pandemic makes care coordination and case management more difficult for a variety of reasons. For instance, finding community resources for struggling senior patients is difficult in areas where organizations have closed operations or restricted access to services. Also, senior adults face more loneliness and emotional health challenges. They have lost access to many of their traditional social support networks because of physical distancing during the pandemic.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in demand for palliative care services under circumstances that impede the optimal delivery of this care, causing frontline providers to scramble to understand a critically ill patient’s wishes while donned with face masks and goggles that make communications difficult. The pandemic has made what are always difficult conversations even more fraught, placing added stress on medical providers, patients, family members, and palliative care specialists.
