Impact of restricted visitation policies in hospitals on patients, family members and healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review protocol
Sean M Bagshaw,
Scott B Patten,
Sharon E Straus,
Bram Rochwerg,
Deborah J Cook,
Daniel Niven,
Andrea Soo,
Jeanna Parsons Leigh,
Robert Fowler,
Srinivas Murthy,
Alison Fox-Robichaud,
Karen E A Burns,
Sofia Ahmed,
Kendiss Olafson,
Henry T Stelfox,
Nadine Foster,
Christopher J Doig,
Sarah Crowe,
Andrew West,
Sean Spence,
Stephana J Moss,
Karla D Krewulak,
Melanie C Anglin,
Tavish Barnes,
Maia Kredenster,
Ken Kuljit S Parhar,
Oleska Rewa,
Bonnie G Sept,
Krista Spence,
Kirsten M Fiest
Affiliations
Sean M Bagshaw
3 University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Scott B Patten
Community Health Sciences & Psychiatry, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sharon E Straus
St. Michael’s Hospital Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bram Rochwerg
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Deborah J Cook
professor
Daniel Niven
Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Andrea Soo
3 Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Jeanna Parsons Leigh
1 Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Robert Fowler
3 Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Srinivas Murthy
Departments of Pediatrics and Critical Care Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Introduction Flexible visitation policies in hospitals are an important component of care that contributes to reduced stress and increased satisfaction among patients and their family members. Early evidence suggests restricted visitation policies enacted in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic are having unintended consequences on patients, family members and healthcare providers. There is a need for a comprehensive summary of the impacts of restricted visitation policies on key stakeholders and approaches to mitigate that impact.Methods and analysis We will conduct a scoping review as per the Arksey-O’Malley 5-stage scoping review method and the Scoping Review Methods Manual by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We will search relevant electronic databases (eg, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO), grey literature and preprint repositories. We will include all study designs including qualitative and quantitative methodologies (excluding protocols) as well as reports, opinions and editorials, to identify the broad impact of restricted hospital visitation policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic on patients, family members or healthcare providers of hospitalised patients, and approaches taken or proposed to mitigate this impact. Two reviewers will calibrate the screening criteria and data abstraction form and will independently screen studies and abstract the data. Narrative synthesis with thematic analysis will be performed.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not applicable as this review will be conducted on published literature only. This scoping review will identify, describe and categorise impacts of restricted hospital visitation policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic on patients, family members and healthcare providers of hospitalised patients, and approaches that have been taken to mitigate impact. We will provide a comprehensive synthesis by developing a framework of restricted visitation policies and associated impacts. Our results will inform the development of consensus statements on restricted visitation policies to be implemented in future pandemics.PROSPERO registration number CRD42020221662.
