Financial Sequelae of Cancer for Patients' Family Members and Caregivers: A Focus on the Philippines

Abstract

Multigenerational homes are common. While this offers advantages like financial and emotional support, caregivers often take on extensive roles, including managing errands and making pivotal decisions on patients' behalf. [10][11][12] The primary caregiving responsibility usually falls on the spouse or adult child. As cancer progresses, the demand for support intensifies, affecting caregivers' employment, social life, and schooling, with particularly pronounced effects on women caregivers. 13 Indeed, in many Filipino families, women bear disproportionately greater caregiving responsibility entrenched in traditional gender roles; yet, much of this caregiving remains undervalued and underrecognized. 14 FT and Psychosocial Sequelae for the Family FT is multifaceted and encompasses direct expenses, indirect costs such as transportation, negative psychological impacts, and coping mechanisms compromising essential needs, such as deferred medical treatments. 15,16 Given the high out-of-pocket costs in the Philippines (especially relative to average wage), families of patients may resort to selling assets, borrowing money from relatives and banks, and compromising essential needs, as has been shown in other similarly resourced contexts. 17 For the poorest Filipino families, up to 60% of their income is allocated solely for food, with little leeway for health care costs. 18 Given the archipelagic geography, patients often travel long distances for treatments, adding to indirect costs. 19 Filipino families often turn to traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine to supplement treatment for their sick relative, which can worsen financial strain. 20,21