Family Involvement among Oregon Adult Foster Home Residents, 2018-2023.

OBJECTIVES

To track the changes that occurred in family involvement among Oregon Adult Foster Home (AFH) residents following the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the associations between home and resident characteristics and family involvement.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of repeated cross-sectional data.

SETTING AND

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 2027 responses from AFH providers that replied to a mailed questionnaire from a sample of eligible licensed Oregon AFH selected to participate annually between 2018 and 2023 (6 waves).

METHODS

AFH providers filled out a questionnaire containing questions about family involvement (residents who received 6 types of support from family members or friends, such as help with personal care or social visit) and resident characteristics (activities of daily living needs, payer mix, age, gender, dementia status). Additional contextual data (size, rural/urban) were obtained from state agencies. Associations among family involvement and home and resident characteristics were examined using multivariable linear regression models.

RESULTS

Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant declines in social visits and outings and help getting to medical appointments during the first 2 years (2021 and 2022) of the COVID-19 pandemic, but little change in help with personal care or taking medications or phone calls. By 2023, social visits had recovered to pre-pandemic levels but remained significantly lower for help getting to medical appointments and going on outings. Multiple regression models that included controls showed that rural AFH and those with higher Medicaid use reported significantly lower family involvement in social visits, outings, and help getting to medical appointments.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The continued decline in assistance for medical appointments and outings portends potential challenges in resident socioemotional well-being and accessing health care services in this setting. Understanding the long-term impacts of the pandemic on quality of life and quality of care for residents living in community-based care settings may require a multifaceted approach to measuring family involvement.