Document Type
Presentation
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Publication Date
3-22-2024
Abstract
Caregivers are the forgotten patients of the cancer process. Their mental, physical, and financial health can all be altered by their caregiving responsibilities, thereby affecting their social determinants of health. The quality of life of caregivers has been shown to be lower than both the public and their patient’s.
The aim of this study was to explore the quality of life of caregivers of adult hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. The ultimate goal is to educate the medical community about the role of caregivers in cancer care and their burden during the process.
This project was a scoping review performed by searching PubMed for search terms including cancer, caregiver, adult, and burden. The resulting 238 articles were narrowed down to 6 pertaining to hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Of the final group of articles, three discussed the quality of life of caregivers of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. These articles showed that caregivers suffered from high levels of anxiety and depression, higher than not only the public but also their patients. Additionally, it was found that a caregiver’s quality of life was dependent on the status of their patient. For example, if their patient was doing poorly, the caregiver’s quality of life was low. The other three articles of the final group discussed interventions to improve the quality of life of caregivers of hematopoietic stem cell patients. It was found that cognitive behavior therapy reduced caregiver anxiety and depression. A computer application eased caregiver anxiety by allowing them to follow their patient’s progress through the peri-transplant period.
Caregivers can suffer from lower quality of life due to their role in the cancer process. Interventions may help improve it, especially levels of anxiety and depression. The medical community can help caregivers by referring them to specialists, including mental health professionals and sleep medicine doctors.
Lay Summary
Cancer is a common disease, and care for cancer is now more in the outpatient area. Patients are spending less time in the hospital, meaning they need more help at home. This leads to families needing to take care of the patient.
Blood stem cell transplant, also known as bone marrow transplant, is also sometimes being done as an outpatient. Most transplant programs require patients to have people who care for them during the time after transplant.
Most people who care for cancer patients are family members that live with the patient. The most common type of people who care for patients are wives in their 50s. They have been known to spend at least 40 hours per week caring for their patient on top of their other jobs.
The quality of life of a person who cares for a patient is based on how the patient is doing with their health. If the patient is doing well, that person’s quality of life is good. The same can happen in reverse. People who care for patients are known to suffer from high levels of anxiety and depression.
This paper is a study performed by searching for words such as caregiver, cancer, adult, quality of life, and burden. The 238 papers that were found were then narrowed down by removing ones that did not meet certain standards. Adult stem cell transplant was then chosen as a topic. Six papers were in the final group.
Three of the articles talked about how people who care for patients feel while giving care. They found that people who care for patients had higher levels of anxiety and depression than most people, including their patients. Three articles talked about ways to improve the quality of life for people who care for patients. One found that therapy improved their anxiety and depression. One found that sleep quality improved with education by professionals. Finally, a computer program was created by scientists that helped lower the anxiety of people who cared for patients by letting them follow along with the patient’s transplant.
It would be good if cancer doctors paid more attention to people who care for patients. They would be helped if they were sent to therapists and sleep doctors. Making cancer doctors more aware of the suffering of the people giving care may help cancer patients in the long run.
Recommended Citation
Duff, Jennifer, "The Quality-of-Life among Caregivers of Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients" (2024). Master of Public Health Capstone Presentations. Presentation 533.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/mphcapstone_presentation/533
Language
English
Comments
Presentation: 4:34
Poster attached as supplemental file below