Older adults receiving long-term care at home (LTCH-clients) were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its countermeasures. Previous research suggests that pets can mitigate some of the pandemic’s impacts for older adults but results are contradictory. Our aim was to investigate experiences of LTCH-clients and the significance of their pets during the pandemic. Accounting for saturation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five LTCH-clients and four family caregivers of LTCH-clients with dementia. Participants were asked about their experiences with COVID-19 and the significance of LTCH-clients’ pets during the pandemic. Two researchers performed thematic analyses in ATLAS.ti using open coding and an iterative–inductive approach. All participants reported negative experiences as a result of COVID-19 countermeasures. Results suggested that caring for pets provided pet owners with structure, which may have contributed to a sense of stability and continuity. Our outcomes underlined an important role of pets for LTCH-clients both before and during the pandemic.

The Dutch PET@home Toolkit was developed to mitigate challenges and foster conversations and planning concerning pets in long-term care at home. This process evaluation study aimed to evaluate the practical application of the toolkit on four topics: 1) satisfaction; 2) relevance; 3) feasibility; and 4) integration of the PET@home Toolkit materials in home care. Outcomes may be used to improve the toolkit materials to better align with the long-term care at home setting. Accounting for data saturation, professional caregivers (N=6), clients (N=2), and family caregivers (N=2) who used toolkit materials participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analysed by two researchers in ATLAS.ti using an inductive-iterative approach. The researchers reached consensus on themes and clustering within interview topics. This led to the identification of the following topics and (themes): satisfaction (general impression, suggestions for improvement), relevance (awareness, planning, pet-related aspects in practice, impact on healthcare quality), feasibility (healthcare practice, competence, quantity), and implementation (digitalisation, task owner, piloting, timing). Several improvements were made to toolkit materials, such as providing clearer instructions for clients in the information booklet. Participants acknowledged the toolkit could lead to better planning while mitigating potential challenges concerning pets which may lead to longer-lasting relationships between clients and their pets.

The Dutch PET@home Toolkit was developed to mitigate challenges, foster conversations, and support planning concerning pets in long-term care at home. This process evaluation study aimed to evaluate the practical application of the toolkit on four topics: (1) satisfaction; (2) relevance; (3) feasibility; and (4) integration of the PET@home Toolkit materials in home care. Outcomes may be used to improve the toolkit materials to better align with the long-term care at home setting. Accounting for data saturation, professional caregivers (N = 6), clients (N = 2), and family caregivers (N = 2) who used toolkit materials participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analyzed by two researchers in ATLAS.ti using an inductive-iterative approach. The researchers reached a consensus on themes and clustering within interview topics. This led to the identification of the following themes pertaining to each interview topic: satisfaction (general impression, suggestions for improvement); relevance (awareness, planning, pet-related aspects in practice, impact on healthcare quality); feasibility (healthcare practice, competence, quantity); and implementation (digitalization, task owner, piloting, timing). Several improvements were made to toolkit materials, such as providing clearer instructions for clients in the information booklet. Participants acknowledged the toolkit could lead to better planning while mitigating potential challenges concerning pets, which may lead to longer-lasting relationships between clients and their pets.