Carver, Charles S.

Background: Identifying and addressing caregivers' unmet needs have been suggested as a way of reducing their distress and improving their quality of life. However, the needs of family cancer caregivers are complex in the period of long‐term survivorship in particular because they may diverge as the patients' survivorship trajectory does, and that is what this study investigated. Methods: Family cancer caregivers completed prospective, longitudinal surveys 2, 5, and 8 years after diagnosis (n = 633).

Purpose/background: Accumulating evidence shows that bereaved family caregivers report elevated distress for an extended period, which compromises their quality of life. A first step in the development of programs to enhance bereaved caregivers' quality of life should be determining the needs they experience to manage the loss, and the needs that are not being satisfied.

Objectives: To review the family caregivers' unmet needs in the long-term phase of survivorship to identify unique challenges faced by family caregivers.; Data Sources: Research-based articles and published reports.; Conclusion: Family caregivers diverge into three distinct groups in the long-term survivorship phase: those remaining in care, those whose patients have survived and where care is no longer needed, and those whose patients have died.

Background: A substantial number of family caregivers go through bereavement because of cancer, but little is known about the bereaved caregivers' long-term adjustment. This study aimed to document levels of bereavement outcomes (prolonged grief symptoms, intense emotional reaction to the loss, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction) among family cancer caregivers 3-5 years post-loss and to investigate how self-rated preparedness for the patient's death predicted those bereavement outcomes.

Background: Cancer caregiving has been associated with worsening health among caregivers themselves, yet demographic and psychosocial predictors of their long-term health decline are less known. This study examines changes in caregivers' physical health 2 to 8 years after their family members' cancer diagnosis and prospective predictors of that change.; Methods: Caregivers (n = 664; mean age, 53.2 years) participated in a nationwide study at 2 (T1), 5 (T2), and 8 (T3) years after their family members' cancer diagnosis.