Kanesvaran, Ravindran

Background: Assessing patient and caregiver experiences with care is central to improving care quality. The authors assessed variations in the experiences of advanced cancer patients and their caregivers with physician communication and care coordination by patient and caregiver factors. Methods: The authors surveyed 600 patients with a stage IV solid malignancy and 346 caregivers every 3 months for more than 2 years. Patients entered the cohort any time during their stage IV trajectory.

Context: Family satisfaction with care is an important quality indicator in palliative care.; Objectives: This study aimed to translate and validate the 10-item Family Satisfaction with End-of-Life Care (FAMCARE) tool.; Methods: Family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer were recruited. FAMCARE was translated from English to Chinese using a forward and backward translation process. Chinese-speaking caregivers were interviewed with the preliminary Chinese FAMCARE, and phrasing was edited to ensure clarity of the items.