Connection, comfort and COVID-19 in palliative care

Abstract

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). COVID-19 has made experiences of dying in isolation, or separated from loved ones, more visible. The pandemic has revealed the ways that families are kept apart – through forced restrictions on visitors, closed borders and other public health directives aimed at limiting infection – with profound implications for end-of-life care experiences, including grief and bereavement.1,2 Within hospitals, the physical barriers created by the use of personal protective equipment further limit human contact or communication. In palliative care, COVID-19 restrictions mean that families may not be able to touch or be in the same room as patients.3 Indeed, for many palliative patients, the conditions imposed by COVID-19 may significantly limit patient autonomy, including decisions around place of care and place of death.4 Such restrictions, while imperative during a pandemic, profoundly shape experiences and relationships between patients, families and clinicians, limiting forms of closeness, intimacy and proximity.