AbstractObjective:To understand the challenges experienced by Portuguese workers in humanitude
care for institutionalized elderly people during the pandemic.Method:This is a qualitative study, supported by reflections on the Humanitude Care
Methodology, carried out with workers from different areas in a nursing home
for elderly people in Portugal. Data collection took place between September
and October 2020, from individual and online interviews. The categorization
proposed by Bardin was adopted as the analysis technique.Results:Three categories emerged: (1) self-protection and of the other with the
subcategories fear of being contaminated and fear of contaminating the
elderly; (2) maintenance of affective relationships, broken down into the
subcategories absence of family members in the nursing home and personal
protective equipment as a barrier to communication and approximation; and
(3) confinement of the elderly who attended the Day Center, with the
subcategories lack of family support/loneliness and change in the elderly’s
routine.Conclusion:The main challenges experienced by Portuguese workers are related to the
necessary changes in the performance of care practices due to the use of
personal protection that was not used before, limitations in affective
relationships, and restrictions in interaction spaces.