Keep the person company. Talking with them, watching movies together, listening to music, playing cards or just being with the person can be comforting. Touch is a powerful way to communicate and can show how much you care. Respect their need to be alone sometimes. Look after your own emotional needs, too. It may be helpful to talk to others who are experiencing the same thing.
There are support groups that include both caregivers and people living with cancer and those that provide support individually for either caregivers or people living with cancer. You may provide physical care for your loved one. Ask your healthcare team for information and ideas on caring for your loved one. Assistive devices are tools that can help your loved one be more independent and make your job easier.
These tools may be a walker, lift, wheelchair, shower chair, grab bars, portable commodes or urinals. A home care nurse, physiotherapist or occupational therapist may be able to provide support and give you ideas to help your loved one. You may need to learn how to help with: Caring for a loved one who is ill can be physically and emotionally demanding. Keeping your strength and spirits up will help you cope with the challenges of being a caregiver. To care for someone with cancer and cope with so many responsibilities you first need to take good care of yourself.
Make healthy meals and try to eat on a regular basis, even if you feel too tired or too busy. Be physically active on a regular basis. Have regular physical examinations and dental checkups. Sleep when the person you are taking care of is resting or sleeping. Take time to relax and do the things you enjoy. You may try to do everything and find it difficult to take the time to look after your own needs. As you learn to adjust and cope during this difficult time you can: Use relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing. Talk to someone about your feelings.
This might be your spouse, a close friend, a family member, a counsellor or a clergy member. Join a support group. There are many kinds of support programs, including one-on-one or group support. It sometimes helps to talk to others who have been through the same experience. Ask the healthcare team for support. Write down your feelings in a journal. Make time for things you enjoy. Ask people for help. Don't be afraid to laugh, either. Be honest with yourself about what you can do.
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Accept help from others. Caregivers who take care of their own needs and get the information, help and support they need are better able to take care of their loved one. Get help from family members, friends or people in the community when needed. People are often happy to babysit, clean the house, help out with meals or stay with the person who is ill. Ask about home care or other community services to help with house or yard work or with physical care. Caregivers who are more confident are better able to care for their loved ones.
Ask your healthcare team for ideas and information and help on how to care for your loved one. The healthcare team can assess the home and may suggest changes or equipment that can make caring for a loved one easier. They can provide information on what to watch for, how to manage side effects and preparing for the future. Be prepared for your role as a caregiver.
Being a caregiver can lead to issues at work including missed days, low productivity and work interruptions. Talk to your supervisor or benefits office about your caregiving responsibilities and what options are available.
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You may consider a change in job-related duties, job-sharing or part-time work or you may need to take a leave from work. Some places also offer counselling services. There are many costs in caring for someone with cancer. You may have to pay insurance deductibles or pay for home care or transportation services.
If your loved one is your spouse, they may have been the primary provider in the home and if they are unable to work, that can reduce the family income. In addition, you may have to reduce your work or give up your job to care for your loved one, making it even harder to pay for everything.
As a caregiver you may be eligible for various forms of assistance from the Government of Canada.
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Being a caregiver can affect your quality of life physically, socially, financially, spiritually and emotionally. These results suggested that home nursing care assists patients with forestalling distress from symptoms and maintaining their independence longer in comparison to no home nursing care. Despite widespread attention and endorsement by health care agencies, limited research exists evaluating principles of cancer patient-centered home care or testing the effectiveness of this model in community practice.
There is insufficient evidence about the effectiveness, in terms of clinical outcomes survival, objective response , of home chemotherapy compared to hospital administration. Home delivery of anticancer agents is feasible for selected categories of patients such as those receiving oral treatments, zoledronic acid, low-intensity intravenous chemotherapy ie, gemcitabine or vinorelbine or biologic agents ie, herceptin , while patients receiving intensive treatments are not suitable for home care. Table 3 shows the advantages of a home therapy care unit for both patients and health-providers.
The Health Technology Assessment Agency of Canada analyzed home cancer chemotherapy in terms of patient benefit, safety, costs, organizational issues, and delivery implications. Patient eligibility criteria include learning capability, home environment, and geographic accessibility. The latter issue raises problems since home therapy may be quite difficult in rural areas. There were no significant complications associated with administration of chemotherapy in the home and no negative reports by patients themselves.
The application of approved treatment guidelines is extremely useful in improving cancer care as shown by a report from a home care program in the US. Likewise, standardized prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy dramatically decreased the practice-wide use of oral 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 inhibitors. A steady decrease in the number and rate of emergency department referrals for chemotherapy patients has been recorded if patient-centered care is applied.
In the last decade, the use of oral anticancer agents for the treatment of various types of cancer has been constantly increasing. Currently in the US and Europe, more than 40 oral agents have been approved for the treatment of cancer. The intravenous-to-oral switch and the development of oral anticancer therapies for long-term daily use will most likely continue to evolve. The issue of oral cancer therapy is particularly important in a model of patient-centered home care. Oral treatments de facto represent a home therapy since most patients take pills at their houses and manage their treatment directly or with their familiar caregivers.
Costs and convenience of delivering cancer treatments at home versus hospital services were analyzed in a study of 82 patients who received home cancer treatment for at least 2 weeks under the coordination of a public cancer center in Lyon, France. Home cancer treatments were less costly than traditional inpatient hospital care for the palliative care and other treatment groups, while no significant cost difference was found for the chemotherapy group.
However, because this study evaluated costs from the perspective of the public payer, costs borne by the individual or family were not considered. Therefore the cost effectiveness of home versus hospital cancer programs from a societal perspective, which would include costs borne by the individual and family receiving care, should also be analyzed. The Irish experience showed that home care cut costs by two-thirds compared to hospital care. In a US study, cost analysis also showed a reduction in expenses as compared to patients not enrolled in the program.
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Today, improvement in the quality of care for cancer patients through a patient-centered approach is seen as a strategic priority. The delivery of oncology care at home is increasingly viewed as a way of improving quality of care and as a cost-effective alternative to inpatient hospital treatment for selected groups of patients.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Ther Clin Risk Manag. Published online Sep 9. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Patient-centered home care is a new model of assistance, which may be integrated with more traditional hospital-centered care especially in selected groups of informed and trained patients. Introduction In the Western world cancer is the most common cause of premature death and disability, with very important social and economic consequences that at present are not precisely measured, and therefore often ignored.
Quality of care Patient-centered care is considered a pivotal aspect of high-quality health care. Open in a separate window. Principles of cancer patientcentered home care CPCHC is considered as the future of primary care practice that will be part of the US health care system change into a more accessible, effective, efficient, safe, and economical sustainable system. Oncologist-directed health care team.
Table 2 Key issues for a home anticancer treatment service. High-quality integrated services by a trained multidisciplinary team. Measures of patient-centered care To date no widely accepted conceptual model of patient- centered care exists.
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Clinical evidence The issue of home therapy in oncology care is not new. Table 3 Advantages of a home therapy care unit. Improved symptom and medication management. Oral therapies In the last decade, the use of oral anticancer agents for the treatment of various types of cancer has been constantly increasing. Economic issues Costs and convenience of delivering cancer treatments at home versus hospital services were analyzed in a study of 82 patients who received home cancer treatment for at least 2 weeks under the coordination of a public cancer center in Lyon, France.
Conclusion Today, improvement in the quality of care for cancer patients through a patient-centered approach is seen as a strategic priority.
Footnotes Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. CA Cancer J Clin. Declining death rates reflect progress against cancer. Committee on cancer survivorship: From cancer patient to cancer survivor: National Academies Press; Crossing the quality chasm: Understanding high-quality cancer care: Facilitating patient-centered cancer research and a new era of drug discovery. Prospective clinical trials as a model for patient-centred care.