BaCoM: Bavarian outpatient COVID-19 monitor in long-term care

The Bavarian Outpatient COVID-19 Monitor is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care. In this interdisciplinary study involving general medicine, infectious diseases, nursing sciences, and sociology, several waves of surveys are being conducted throughout Bavaria to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic is being managed and its long-term effects on home-based outpatient and inpatient long-term care. To this end, 1,500 people in need of care with care levels I to V who have tested positive for COVID-19 using a PCR test will be medically examined and asked about the consequences of the pandemic. For comparison, 500 people in need of care who correspond to those affected in terms of care level but who have tested negative for the virus will also be surveyed. In addition, caregivers and relatives who care for those affected will be interviewed about their experiences, limitations, and problems during the pandemic.

In addition to the standardized, quantitative survey of patients, caregivers, family caregivers, and general practitioners, open-ended but guided and problem-centered interviews will be conducted with all of these groups on a smaller scale. Actors from politics and administration are also interviewed in order to gain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the constellations of actors that shape the field of long-term care. In the context of the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, different groups have different tasks to solve. This differentiation leads to interactions and interface problems. Therefore, the problems and problem-solving strategies of those in need of care and their relatives, but also those of caregivers, doctors, therapists, administrative staff, and political decision-makers will be examined in order to promote communication between the groups of actors.

The aim of BaCoM is to scientifically record the structural conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and its multifaceted effects on the particularly affected group of people in need of care and their companions in order to improve the support options—and thus the care of those in need of care—during this and future epidemics.