Caregivers during Covid-19 outbreak. The case of families with young people with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

The Coronavirus disease outbreak, has led several individuals to a period of isolation at home or in quarantine. This article raises the question of what impact this situation has had on families with people with diseases or disability. Already at the beginning of the pandemic, there were studies analysing the living conditions during the lockdown of caregivers who assist people with heart disease, breathing difficulties, Alzheimer's disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders etc. Noting an absence of studies conducted on caregivers of people with Profound Intellectual Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) and starting from pre-Covid studies, that had already highlighted the complexity and the need for support and resources for these families, we run a reflection aimed at evaluating the impact of the pandemic on them. The interest of our research is to highlight the critical aspects of the new life contexts that affect families with young people with PIMD, in order to implement new research paths aimed to collect data on new support needs