Strategies for activity maintenance in patient and family care and clinical trial adherence of GNA social plan in context of COVID-19 health emergency

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background: The current pandemic COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV2 has become apublic health challenge, causing difficulty in patient care and follow up of people withcognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. This situation motivated changes andadjustments to the Group of Neurosciences of Antioquia’s (GNA) Social Plan to guaran-tee effective continuity in patient care, family follow-up, community interventions andadherence to the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API) Colombia clinical trial. Thiswas an opportunity to innovate, create, reinvent and expand forms of care and inter-vention during confinement and pandemic to promote access through virtual mediaand the well-being of beneficiaries.Methods: The Social Plan program involves free access to basic care suppliesfor patients, home-visits, support groups, cognitive stimulation groups and vir-tual community outreach activities like workshops for caregivers/interested pub-lic, Alzheimer’s Day Commemoration “Cuidarme – Cuidarte” event (with availablerecorded resources), symposiums for caregivers, and informative meetings with par-ticipants of the API Colombia clinical trial.Results: In the period of mandatory preventive confinement, 30 families obtained dia-pers, 23 families received prescription drugs not provided by health maintenance orga-nizations (HMO) and 48 families received groceries. A total of 32 home-visits weremade: 7 in rural areas and 25 in urban areas. At the end of the mandatory preven-tive confinement, outpatient medical consults were resumed, no participants withdrewfrom the trial during this period. Thirty-six people with MCI or dementia participatedin virtual cognitive stimulation activities. Caregiver remote workshops held in the firstsemester of 2020 had a total attendance of 80 people, and events held in the sec-ond semester, such as the Commemoration of Alzheimer’s Day and the Symposium forCaregivers, had a total attendance of 1,665 people and 1,000 people respectively.