Problems Experienced by the Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients and Their Needs for Support

Abstract

Informal caregivers experience problems of their own for which they need support, but despite the efforts of the World Health Organization to include the well-being of family members and caregivers in the concept of palliative care, their needs are rarely assessed systematically. This report explores caregivers' problems and their needs for professional support. Seventy-six caregivers of cancer patients with advanced disease completed a comprehensive needs assessment questionnaire, the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care questionnaire-caregiver form, listing 67 potential problems in their quality of life and their role of caregiver and 9 items concerning informational needs. The results of this study reveal that the "Top 20" list of the problems and needs reported by caregivers includes fears and emotional burdens; for the most part, caregivers did not need any more professional attention than they were already receiving. Many, however, needed support for managing patients' symptoms and wanted professional attention for the availability and coordination of services. Despite communalities, there was diversity in caregivers' individual needs. Personal needs could be identified with the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care questionnaire-caregiver form checklist. Although only a few caregivers were affected by some issues, such as financial problems, help for them was often needed. In conclusion, most caregivers would like more professional attention for 4 or 5 specific issues, often related to their competence as caregivers for their patients. Using structured needs assessments with the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care questionnaire-caregiver form seems a feasible method to identify the needs of individual caregivers in palliative care.

Support for Caregivers of Cancer Patients: Transition After Active Treatment

“…Caregiver activities, roles, and demands during posttreatment depend on the residual impact and the treatment the patient has received as well as the long-term expectation of survival and outcome of treatment (13,14,(20)(21)(22). From our work, we have found that 60% of 143 patients who were from 2 to 6 weeks posttreatment reported substantial problems (23).…”

Balancing a Changed Life Situation: The Lived Experience From Next of Kin to Persons With Inoperable Lung Cancer

“…Our findings show that the next of kin need more support in this, since hope about the future is one of the big issues they deal with, which is also in agreement with the findings in another study. 34 Hope is defined as a positive emotion, orientated toward the future and with expectations including realistic goals. 35 The hope consists of being cured or living in hope, i.e.…”

The impact of disease on family members: a critical aspect of medical care

“…2 Most studies on quality of life focus on assessing the quality of life of patients. Family quality of life has been explored in dermatology, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] oncology, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] and in the field of physical and mental disability, [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] but little is known about the impact of disease on families of patients in many other specialties. Several key review articles have been written concerning the impact of illness on the quality of life of the partner, 1 the impact of cancer on the family, 14,19 the carer burden in mental health illness, 22 the impact of chronic childhood illness on siblings, 29 and the impact of chronic disease in the elderly on the patient's family.…”