Impact of Caregivers' Unmet Needs for Supportive Care on Quality of Terminal Cancer Care Delivered and Caregiver's Workforce Performance

Overview

Journal Support Care Cancer

Specialties Critical Care
Oncology

Date 2009 Jun 2

PMID 19484480

Citations 31

Authors

Sang Min Park

Young Jin Kim

Samyong Kim

Jong Soo Choi

Ho-Yeong Lim

Youn Seon Choi

Young Seon Hong

Si-Young Kim

Dae Seog Heo

Ki Moon Kang

Hyun Sik Jeong

Chang Geol Lee

Do Ho Moon

Jin-Young Choi

In Sik Kong

Young Ho Yun

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Goals Of Work: Family caregivers play an important role in caring for cancer patients, but the impact of caregivers' unmet needs on the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care they deliver and on their workplace performance are less understood.

Patients And Methods: We identified 1,662 family caregivers of cancer patients who had died at any of 17 hospitals in Korea during 2004. The caregivers answered a telephone questionnaire about needs that were not met when they delivered terminal cancer care and how those unmet their needs affected their workplace performance; they also answered the Quality Care Questionnaire-End of Life (QCQ-EOL).

Results: Compared with caregivers who did not have unmet needs, caregivers who had unmet needs for symptom management, financial support, or community support showed poorer QCQ-EOL scores (P < 0.01). Caregivers who had unmet needs for financial support (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 7.55; 95% confidential interval (CI) 3.80-15.00), psychosocial support (aOR = 6.24; 95% CI 2.95-13.05), symptom management (aOR = 3.21; 95% CI 2.26-4.54), community support (aOR = 3.82; 95% CI 2.38-6.11), or religious support (aOR = 4.55; 95% CI 1.84-11.26) were more likely to experience work limitations. Caregivers of patients receiving conventional hospital care were more likely to have unmet needs for symptom management (aOR = 1.21; 95% CI 1.00-1.47), psychosocial support (aOR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.37-2.88), and religious support (aOR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.08-2.78) than those of patients receiving palliative hospice care.

Conclusions: Caregivers' unmet needs negatively affected both the quality of EOL care they delivered and their workplace performance. More investment in caregiver support and public policies that meet caregiver needs are needed, and hospice use should be encouraged.

Citing Articles

Exploring the lived experience of Chinese family caregivers caring for end-of-life cancer patients at home: a phenomenological study in Singapore.

Ang S, Poon W, Best O, Graham C Support Care Cancer. 2025; 33(2):111.

PMID: 39831911 DOI: 10.1007/s00520-025-09166-6.

End-of-life care needs in cancer patients: a qualitative study of patient and family experiences.

Lopez-Salas M, Yanes-Roldan A, Fernandez A, Marin A, Martinez A, Monroy A BMC Palliat Care. 2024; 23(1):157.

PMID: 38907206 PMC: 11191331. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-024-01489-1.

A qualitative study on redefining normality in relatives of patients with advanced cancer.

Driessen H, Bakker E, Rietjens J, Luu K, Lugtenberg M, Witkamp F Cancer Med. 2024; 13(10):e7211.

PMID: 38785201 PMC: 11117454. DOI: 10.1002/cam4.7211.

A Critical Overview of the Construct of Supportive Care Need in the Cancer Literature: Definitions, Measures, Interventions and Future Directions for Research.

Miniotti M, Botto R, Soro G, Olivero A, Leombruni P Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024; 21(2).

PMID: 38397704 PMC: 10887927. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21020215.

Familial aspects of fear of cancer recurrence: current insights and knowledge gaps.

Faraji A, Dehghani M, Khatibi A Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1279098.

PMID: 38034286 PMC: 10684928. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279098.

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