Sansom-Daly, Ursula M.

Background: Family-based ‘informal’ caregivers are critical to enable sustainable cancer care that produces optimal health outcomes but also gives rise to psychological burdens on caregivers. Evidence of psychosocial support for caregivers does not currently address the impacts of their role in providing clinical and health-related care for their loved ones. The present study sought to address this gap including with those from priority populations. Methods: Qualitative data was collected using focus group and interview methods.

Informal caregivers (referred to as caregivers within this article) play a significant part in enabling community-based models of cancer care and survivorship, whereby patients manage much of their disease and treatment outside of clinical settings. Caregivers are fundamental to healthcare in Australia, with a replacement value of $77.9 billion. Caregivers are a highly important group as they allow people diagnosed with cancer to remain at home and out of hospitals for longer than would have been possible without the caregivers involvement.