Identifying the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs among family caregivers of cancer patients: an Italian investigation on home palliative care setting
Abstract
Purpose Family caregivers (FCs) are crucial resources in caring for cancer patients at home. The aim of this investigation was (1) to measure the prevalence of unmet needs reported by FCs of cancer patients in home palliative care, and (2) to investigate whether their needs change as their socio-demographic characteristics and the patients' functional abilities change. Methods FCs completed a battery of self-report questionnaires, including the Cancer Caregiving Tasks, Consequences, and Needs (CaTCoN). Results Data were collected from 251 FCs (74 men and 177 women, mean age 58.5 ± 14.2 years). Most of the participants experienced a substantial caregiving workload related to practical help (89.8%), provided some or a lot of personal care (73.1%), and psychological support (67.7%) to patients. More than half of the FCs reported that the patient's disease caused them negative physical effects (62.7%). Emotional, psychosocial, and psychological needs were referred. Some FCs reported that the patient's disease caused them a lot of stress (57.3%) and that they did not have enough time for friends/acquaintances (69.5%) and family (55.7%). The need to see a psychologist also emerged (44.0%). Age, caregiving duration, and patients' functional status correlated with FCs' unmet needs. Women reported more negative social, physical, and psychological consequences and a more frequent need to talk to a psychologist. Conclusion The analysis demonstrated that cancer caregiving is burdensome.…
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Similar findings were reported across several other recent studies from the West.
“Similar findings were also reported across several other recent studies from the West [15-18].”
From Exploring the Unmet Needs of Cancer Caregivers in India: A Cross-Sectional Survey (2024) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- Zavagli, V., Raccichini, M., Ostan, R., Ercolani, G., Franchini, L., Varani, S., & Pannuti, R.
- Affiliations
- ANT Foundation Italy Onlus (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Zavagli, Veronica
- ORCID
- Venue
- Supportive Care in Cancer
- Published
- 2022-01-09
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 3451-3461
- ISSN
- 0941-4355 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-7339
- OpenAlex
- W4205625302
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 7.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Supportive Care in Cancer (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Keywords
- family caregivers, unmet needs, home-based palliative care, cancer caregiving, caregiver burden, caregiver well-being, psychosocial needs, caregiver stress, caregiver support needs, patient functional status, caregiving duration, gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Palliative Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support, Prevalence, Caregivers
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