Citation: Serafini, A.; Peralta, G.; Martucci, P.; Tagliaferro, A.; Hutchinson, A.; Barbetta, C. COVID-19 Pandemic: Brief Overview of the Consequences on Family Informal Caregiving. COVID 2023, 3, 381–391. https://doi.org/10.3390/ covid3030028 Academic Editors: Letizia Materassi, Andrea Guazzini, Mirko Duradoni, Guglielmo Bonaccorsi and Chiara Lorini Received: 5 February 2023 Revised: 7 March 2023 Accepted: 9 March 2023 Published: 11 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Review COVID-19 Pandemic: Brief Overview of the Consequences on Family Informal Caregiving Antonella Serafini 1, * ,† , Giuseppe Peralta 2,† , Paola Martucci 3,† , Alberto Tagliaferro 4 , Ann Hutchinson 5 and Carlo Barbetta 6,† 1 Pulmonology Department, Civil Hospital, 18100 Imperia, Italy 2 Pneumology Consultant, Nursing Home Latteri, 90143 Palermo, Italy 3 Pulmonology Department, AORN A. Cardarelli, 80131 Naples, Italy 4 INSTM, 50121 Florence, Italy 5 Medical Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK 6 UOS Pneumologia, Ospedale di San Donà di Piave, Ulss 4 Veneto Orientale, 30027 San Donà di Piave, Italy * Correspondence: antonella.serafini123@gmail.com † Educational prevention and epidemiology study group, A.I.P.O./I.T.S. Abstract: Background and aim of the work: The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the quality of people’s social life, strongly impacting family dynamics, too, not only in the harshest periods of the pandemic but also afterwards. Pandemic-related measures led to a ‘stay-at-home’ approach that increased the mental and physical burdens of family caregivers, irrespective of whether they were living together with the person they were caring for or not. In this paper, we provide an overview of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on family relationships and dynamics, as well as on family caregivers’ mental burden, and outline how this developed. Methods: We collected relevant info by searching the PubMed/Medline database with appropriate keywords. The search was performed up to 28 February 2023. This paper is reported in line with PRISMA guidance. Results: Given the recent onset of the issue, the number of relevant papers was limited. However, the additional burden that the pandemic has caused worldwide to informal caregivers clearly emerges. Conclusions: The worldwide impact of the pandemic on informal caregiving is assessed, and recommendations on how the issue can be handled are briefly sketched, too. Keywords: home caregiving; long COVID caregiving; COVID-19 impact; carer 1. Introduction Over the past decades, family organization has radically altered. Technological and societal changes led to new models of cohabitation and living, with more focus on individu- als and less on families. At the same time, new achievements of medicine led to an increase in the number of people to be taken care of, both the elderly and those affected by chronic diseases. The caregiver, i.e., the one who takes care, is a family member who free of charge, and by virtue of the emotional bond that binds him/her to the cared person, takes care of and assists in the daily life of a sick or/and disabled relative who is not self-sufficient on a part-time or full-time basis. Taking care of a family member is a multifaceted issue that involves the well-being of the family caregiver, support from other family members, budget issues and good quality private and public services. Finally, although the sacrifice of the individual for the well- being of the beloved is highly valued, the burden on the caregiver is often overlooked in society. Non-remunerated caregivers have always been the backbone of long-term home caregiving in chronic diseases. In summary, caring for a family member requires the caregiver to have an ability to adapt which is far more challenging than in previous decades when the social structures were more secure, and the pandemic has added to this distress. The last available reports before the COVID-19 pandemic show that roughly COVID 2023, 3, 381–391. https://doi.org/10.3390/covid3030028 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/covid