How do spouses of cancer survivors engage with mental healthcare? An exploratory analysis of visit characteristics

Abstract

Objective To better understand how cancer caregivers engage with mental healthcare, this exploratory study sought to assess the distribution and correlates of visit characteristics for mental health‐related medical care among spouses of cancer survivors. Methods Using nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, we assessed the proportion of caregivers who received a mental health‐related prescription or psychotherapy visit across care settings (office based, outpatient hospital, emergency room, or inpatient visit), provider type (psychiatric, primary care, other specialty, or other), and visit purpose (regular checkup, diagnosis and treatment, follow‐up, psychotherapy, other), and the health condition(s) associated with the visit. Logistic and multinomial regressions assessed the predisposing, enabling, need, and survivor characteristics associated with the visit characteristics. Results A plurality of spouses of cancer survivors accessed mental healthcare through an office‐based visit (90%) with a primary care provider (47%). One third accessed treatment as part of a regular check‐up (32%). Several factors were associated with visit characteristics, notably the cancer survivor's health status and healthcare utilization. Conclusions The findings provide an important reminder of the often‐invisible mental health burden experienced by cancer caregivers and confirm the importance of routine primary care as a doorway to mental healthcare. Assessing how the care recipient's care needs and caregiving itself may act as barriers to specialty care will be a critical future research trajectory.

Health and Well-Being Needs Among Head and Neck Cancer Caregivers – A Systematic Review

“…The evidence suggests that the immediate post-diagnosis period and 6-month interval after treatment are times of significant psychological distress, 17 , 21 , 28 as caregivers must endure the burdens of bad news, extensive cancer-related information, and demands of treatment. In a study of cancer survivor spouses’ engagement with mental healthcare, greater care demands were associated with less utilization of mental health resources, 37 which could present a major barrier in HNC due to the many challenging caregiving tasks. In addition, the evidence demonstrates significantly fewer health care encounters (ie, physician office visits, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits) among cancer caregivers in the 12-month post-diagnosis period compared to controls.…”