When Safety Measures Do Harm: Retraumatization of Trauma Survivors Living in Long-Term Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

There is a pressing need to uncover the untold stories of retraumatization experienced by trauma survivors residing in congregate living settings in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond disproportionate death tolls, we know that safety measures imposed in long-term care (LTC) homes, such as visitor restrictions and group activity cancellations, had many negative effects on residents’ health and well-being. “Confinement syndrome” has been used to describe the significant and likely irreversible physical, cognitive, psychological, and functional declines associated with sensory deprivation and a lack of social engagement.