Lee, Y. J.

PURPOSE A needs assessment of family caregivers (CGs) in our gynecologic oncology clinic found that 50% of CGs report nine or more distressing unmet needs, but only 19% of patients had a documented CG. We conducted an ASCO Quality Training Program project with the following aims: (1) to identify and document primary CGs for 85% of patients within two clinic visits of a gynecologic cancer diagnosis, and (2) assess the needs of and provide interventions to 75% of identified family CGs.

We examine whether spousal caregivers face difficulties in meeting their basic household expenses compared to nonspousal caregivers and whether social support mechanisms ameliorate any financial strain from caregiving responsibilities. We use data for caregivers aged 45 and over drawn from a nationally representative, cross-sectional Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging (N = 5,067). Spousal caregiving is associated with a 35% increase in the likelihood of experiencing difficulties in meeting basic expenses compared to other types of caregiving.