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Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health restrictions caused an unprecedented impact on long-term care services in the United Kingdom (UK). A qualitative study was conducted in the East Midlands, UK, to explore how home care provision was perceived and experienced, by those organizing, commissioning, or providing care, and those receiving care, during the pandemic. Fifteen semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted between September to December 2020 with people who organize, commission, or provide home care (n = 9), recipients of home care (n = 3), and their informal carers (n = 6). Findings: Three broad themes were constructed through a thematic analysis: (1) positive about home care; (2) fear of infection; and (3) social isolation. In addition to these overarching themes, specific group themes were identified amongst group one: those organizing, commissioning, or providing care, and group two: those in receipt of the care and informal carers. Those in group one spoke about the pandemic creating stressful working conditions, regardless of whether organizing, commissioning, or providing care. Despite working throughout the pandemic, they felt a forgotten part of the essential workforce, when compared to those employed in the National Health Service and institutional care. Those in group two experienced a loss of control with visits cancelled or frequently occurring outside of scheduled times. Dissatisfaction with the visits was directed at the management level, rather than at the staff visiting the homes. Applications: Awareness and understanding of the experiences of home care will provide useful knowledge when commissioning future services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many young women turned to digital fitness technologies (DFT) to support their health and wellbeing during the covid-19 pandemic. The present study explores young student women's retrospective perceptions of their cumulative engagement with DFT, across periods of restriction and easing (March 2020–2021). Seventeen UK-based women (Age M = 20.29, SD = 1.72); Ethnicity White = 94.12% participated in one-on-one interviews using an adapted scroll-back technique. Data was analysed using narrative-informed reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were developed: My lockdown #fitnesstransformation: DFT as information and inspiration, My unrealistic expectations: DFT as a source of comparison and concern and My new body positive and resilient self: DFT as a catalyst to self-development. Themes highlight how perceptions of DFT changed over time as a consequence of repeat engagement, sociocultural context and psychological meaning-making. Crucially, findings underscore the importance of examining the collective and cumulative effects of DFT engagement on health and wellbeing, both positive and negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many face-to-face group activities for new parents moved online. In this article, we share findings from 14 interviews conducted during the first lockdown in the United Kingdom with parents of babies under 12 months about their experiences of participating in online groups. Attendance at groups was treated as a survival mechanism or even a panacea for some parents, providing well-rounded entertainment and support for parents, their children and the parenting relationship. However, reviews of the online groups were mixed, with some deemed more adequate than others for online delivery. Parents expressed concerns about the lack of informal spaces in online contexts to share private conversations and the unnatural group conversations affected by the custom of taking turns to talk. These experiences highlighted what was important to parents: the need for the embodiment of connection. The peculiarity of the online setting saw the emergence of parenting display work; parental awareness of online impression management and self-presentation strategies. While online technologies are ubiquitous, online groups for parents are nascent, and these technologies require careful analysis and evaluation from users and facilitators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Unpaid carers were profoundly impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and public health responses. In the UK, in March 2020, people identified as clinically extremely vulnerable and their household members were advised to "shield" for an initial 12-week period, which meant minimizing all contacts from outside the household and not leaving the house at all, unless in an emergency. In a modified form, shielding guidance remained in place until August 2020 and was reinstituted from December 2020 until April 1, 2021. This article, reporting on qualitative interviews with 47 unpaid carers in Wales, thematically analyzed using a coding framework, explores the experiences of unpaid carers affected by this shielding guidance and their wider implications for social work with unpaid carers in the future. Findings: Participants in our study described ways in which their caring role expanded, due to the need to provide additional practical and emotional support for loved ones who were shielding, and who lost access to other avenues of support. Some also described their caring role as becoming more involved and complex due to the declining health or self-care capacity of the person cared-for as a direct consequence of shielding restrictions. Alongside the increase in their caring responsibilities, carers reported losing access to important avenues of support for their own well-being. Applications: We draw on ecological systems theory to highlight the importance during care planning and management of exploring the carer's mesosystem to identify and optimize sustaining forces, and of attending to the microsystem involving the carer and person cared-for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]