Taylor, Richard A.

Aims Numerous healthcare decisions are faced by persons with advanced cancer from diagnosis to end-of-life. The family caregiver role in these decisions has focused on being a surrogate decision-maker, however, little is known about the caregiver’s role in supporting upstream patient decision-making. We aimed to describe the roles of family caregivers in assisting community-dwelling advanced cancer patients with healthcare decision-making across settings and contexts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe distressed and underprepared family caregiver's use of and interest in formal support services (eg, professional counseling, education, organizational assistance). Method: Cross-sectional mail survey conducted in communities of 8 cancer centers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida (response rate: 42%).