Assessing cancer caregivers' needs for an early targeted psychosocial support project: The experience of the oncology department of the Poliambulanza Foundation

Abstract

We strongly believe that early supportive care directed not only at patients but also to caregivers may improve the quality of life (QoL) in this population. We are currently developing a targeted support project to decrease caregiver burden.

Family reported outcomes, an unmet need in the management of a patient's disease: appraisal of the literature

“…Family members caring for a relative with a chronic condition experience a considerable impact on their social, leisure and daily activities [38,51,58,65,66], with women reporting greater disruption than men [67]. Most family members caring for their relative reported difficulties in combining caring tasks with daily activities [29,68,69].…”

“…Caring for a relative with a chronic disease can necessitate increased expenditure [15,31,67,68,[79][80][81][82][83]. In an Australian study, the annual personal cost for mild, moderate, and severe atopic dermatitis was calculated at Aus$330, 818, and 1255, respectively, with most being spent on medication, dressings and non-irritant clothing [64].…”

“…Despite the physical, social and psychological impact that a relative having a disease has on family members, many family members reported a positive experience of caregiving, with older family members reporting more satisfaction than younger ones [55]. Meriggi et al [67] reported 93.5% family members caring for their relative were happy with their role. Son et al [77] attribute positivity in family members caring for cancer patients to their spiritual upliftment.…”

Cognitive dysfunction in patients with brain metastases: influences on caregiver resilience and coping

“…What makes the experience of caregivers of patients with brain metastases unique is that caregivers are forced to deal not only with the emotional sequelae of a metastatic cancer diagnosis [12] but also with the physical and cognitive consequences that accompany the brain metastases [13]. The relationship between the patients' cognitive function and caregiver burden in patients with intracranial tumors, including brain metastases, warrants further investigation because literature in this area is scant.…”

Integrating Geriatrics Into Oncology Ambulatory Care Clinics

“…Care of patients and caregivers is important (Goldzweig et al, 2013). Some caregivers have the same or equivalent health limitations as patients (Meriggi et al, 2014;Sherman, 2008), and encouraging caregivers to maintain personal health is imperative so that they may preserve their caregiving role (Sherman, 2008). Because of responsibilities associated with patients and their illness, caregivers may not be as diligent with their own medical appointments.…”