Patients

Aims and objectives.  This study explores the role of the carer in treatment decision-making in cancer care.

Besides patients’ health and well-being, healthcare interventions may affect the well-being of significant others. Such ‘spill over effects’ in significant others may be distinguished in two distinct effects: (i) the caregiving effect and (ii) the family effect. The first refers to the welfare effects of providing informal care, i.e., the effects of caring for someone who is ill. The second refers to a direct influence of the health of a patient on others’ well-being, i.e., the effects of caring about other people.