Challenges in long-term care facilities for older adults in Hispanic American countries

Seroprevalence and estimation of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in older adults residing in Long-term Care Facilities in Chile

Introduction

Older adults are at a higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. This vulnerability increases in those who live in long-term care facilities due to overcrowding, greater physical dependence, and contact with health workers. Evidence on the impact of the pandemic on these establishments in lowand middle-income countries has been scant. This study aims to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in older people residing in long-term care facilities and estimate the impact of infection after the first wave of the pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional design with 2099 residents in three regions of Chile was carried out between September and November 2020. Measurement of antibodies was performed with a rapid test. The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection was estimated with seropositive residents, those who had a history of positive polymerase chain reaction tests, and those who died from COVID-19. Bivariate analysis with the region, sex, age, history of COVID-19, physical dependence, and serological results were performed. In addition, we performed a correlation analysis between the seroprevalence of the centers by the municipality and the rate of confirmed cases.

Results

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the three regions was 14.7% (95% confidence interval: 13.2 to 16.3%), the infection impact was 46.4%, and the fatality rate was 19.6%. A significant correlation was found between the seroprevalence of older adults residing in long-term care facilities and the cumulative incidence by municipalities.

Conclusions

The seroprevalence of older adults residing in long-term care facilities was higher than the general population. The high impact of infection among this population at the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is similar to other countries. The centers' environment is directly related to COVID-19 infection. Morbidity and mortality monitoring systems should be implemented promptly to establish prevention and control measures.

Methodological description of the mapping of Brazilian long-term care facilities for older adults

OBJECTIVE: To describe the methodological approach adopted to build a database of long-term care facilities (LCTFs) in Brazil. METHODS: This exploratory research was conducted for 12 months, between August 2020 and July 2021, based on primarily publicly accessible data. First, the Unified Social Assistance System (Sistema Único de Assistência Social [SUAS]) database from 2019 was adopted as the primary source of information. In addition, public agencies and managers were consulted and invited to share their databases, while researchers and private entities collaborated by making their spreadsheets available. Data were organized in spreadsheets for each Brazilian state. LTCFs not catering to older adults (aged 60 years and over) were excluded. Duplicate data were excluded when overlaps were identified. RESULTS: This brief communication describes the methodology adopted for mapping the current status of Brazilian LTCFs. Despite its caveats, this study represents an important advance in the identification, characterization, and monitoring of these services nationwide. A total of 5769 facilities were found in the 2019 SUAS census. After excluding facilities not caring for residents aged 60 years or over, this number decreased to 2381 LTCFs. The consolidation and filtering of information from multiple data sources led to the identification of 7029 LTCFs throughout the country. CONCLUSION: Building a solid database was paramount to devising a national policy on long-term care. By including multiple sources, the scope of this survey was wider than all previous efforts and constituted an unprecedented collaborative experience in the country, including the potential to become the first national dataset for the Brazilian LTC sector.

An emergency strategy framework for managing COVID-19 in long-term care facilities in Brazil

This paper presents a novel policy framework to support government responses to COVID-19 in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in low and middle-income countries. It focuses on issues that are of specific relevance to Brazilian policy-settings, including examples of its local implementation. The CIAT Framework combines and summarizes broad elements for an emergency strategy to address the potential effects of COVID-19. The 4 steps of the Framework entail policies to coordinate, identify, assess, and target support. Those policies can be applied immediately to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in LTCFs. It is, however, essential to situate these responses within a more comprehensive and permanent strategy. Intersectoral collaboration must evolve into a fully institutionalized system.