Profiles of resilience resources among spousal caregivers.

Objectives: Resilience resources play a significant role in a caregiver's adaptation process. Previous studies have primarily focused on the effects of individual resilience resources. This study aimed to examine diverse patterns of how those multiple resources simultaneously operate in a caregiving situation with the person-centered approach.

Self-report of symptom cluster experiences in cancer patient-caregiver dyads.

Purpose: Symptom clusters have important health implications in the context of cancer, but the symptom cluster experiences of cancer caregivers and patient-caregiver dyads are not well studied. To date, most studies report statistically derived symptom clusters among patients and fail to consider the caregivers' experience. This study aimed to assess and characterize self-reported symptom cluster experiences in cancer patient-caregiver dyads.

Change in alcohol consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic and associations with mental health and financial hardship: results from a survey of Wisconsin patients with cancer.

Purpose: Alcohol consumption increases health risks for patients with cancer. The Covid-19 pandemic may have affected drinking habits for these individuals. We surveyed patients with cancer to examine whether changes in drinking habits were related to mental health or financial effects of the pandemic.

Employment and workdays lost among spouses of cancer survivors: Intersection with gender across cancer treatment status.

Background: Cancer patients and survivors have high care needs, often provided by a spouse or partner. The purpose of this study was to elucidate how employment and work loss patterns differed across cancer history/treatment status and gender.

Methods: Using nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2011, 2016, and 2017), the authors linked data across married participants and categorized them by spouses' cancer treatment status (no cancer history, on treatment for cancer, off treatment for cancer).

Building relationships to connect cancer researchers with community members: 'bench to community pipeline'.

Purpose: Partnerships between researchers and community members and organizations can offer multiple benefits for research relevance and dissemination. The goal of this project was to build infrastructure to create bidirectional relationships between University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) researchers and community educators in the Division of Extension, which connects the knowledge and resources of the university to communities across the state.

Methods: This project had three aims: (1) create linkages with Extension; (2) establish an in-reach program to educate and train researchers on the science of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE); and (3) identify and facilitate collaborative projects between scientists and communities.

Predictors of psychoneurological symptoms in cancer caregivers over time: Role of caregiving burden, stress, and patient symptoms.

Purpose: In cancer patients, stress is associated with a psychoneurologic (PN) symptom cluster of depressed mood, anxiety, pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. The stress of caregiving may trigger similar symptoms among caregivers and warrants investigation. The purpose of this analysis was to characterize correlates of PN symptom burden in cancer caregivers.

Conceptualizing Family Caregivers' Use of Community Support Services: A Scoping Review.

Background And Objectives: Only a fraction of the 53 million caregivers in the United States use available formal community services. This scoping review synthesized the literature on the barriers and facilitators of community support service utilization by adult caregivers of a family member or friend with an illness, disability, or other limitation.

Research Design And Methods: We searched PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Science for quantitative and qualitative articles assessing barriers and facilitators of caregivers' access to and utilization of resources, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis scoping review guidelines.

Racial and ethnic disparities in cancer caregiver burden and potential sociocultural mediators.

Purpose: Black and Hispanic cancer patients experience many worse care quality and health outcomes than non-Hispanic White patients, yet less is known about disparities in caregiving responsibilities and burden among cancer caregivers.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance consortium, a large multi-regional, population-based study of colorectal and lung cancer patients and their caregivers. Bivariate and multivariable regression models assessed differences by racial and ethnic groups in caregiving responsibilities and social/emotional, financial, and health burdens.

Partner effects on caregiver and care recipient depressed mood: heterogeneity across health condition and relationship type.

The well-being of caregivers and their care recipients is interrelated, although conflicting evidence has emerged across different caregiving populations. Using data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving (2015 and 2017, n = 742 dyads), we constructed actor-partner interdependence models assessing how spillover (i.e.

Comparing adult-child and spousal caregiver burden and potential contributors.

Background: Adult-children caring for a parent with cancer comprise a significant segment of caregivers. Yet less is known about adult-child caregivers, their burden, or caregivers' and patients' gender's impact, which may differ from the well-studied spousal caregiver. This knowledge gap may hinder efforts to ameliorate adult-children's caregiver burden.

How do spouses of cancer survivors engage with mental healthcare? An exploratory analysis of visit characteristics.

Objective: To better understand how cancer caregivers engage with mental healthcare, this exploratory study sought to assess the distribution and correlates of visit characteristics for mental health-related medical care among spouses of cancer survivors.

Methods: Using nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, we assessed the proportion of caregivers who received a mental health-related prescription or psychotherapy visit across care settings (office based, outpatient hospital, emergency room, or inpatient visit), provider type (psychiatric, primary care, other specialty, or other), and visit purpose (regular checkup, diagnosis and treatment, follow-up, psychotherapy, other), and the health condition(s) associated with the visit. Logistic and multinomial regressions assessed the predisposing, enabling, need, and survivor characteristics associated with the visit characteristics.

Caregiver resource utilization: Intellectual and development disability and dementia.

Background: Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families have high need for support services. This study assessed resource utilization among caregivers of intellectual and developmental disabilities and other conditions.

Methods: We assessed 366 caregivers of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, dementia or other conditions Regressions assessed group differences in number of agency contacts and frequency of service use.

Role of cancer survivor health and health service use in spouses' use of mental health-related care.

Background: Spouses of cancer survivors are at an increased risk of poor mental health outcomes but are known to underuse supportive services. The objective of the current study was to determine how the health and health care use of cancer survivors were associated with depression and anxiety-related health care use in their spouses.

Methods: The current observational study used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to identify married individuals with a cancer-related medical event or disability ("cancer survivors"), and linked health and health care use data across spousal dyads.

Caregiver Eligibility for Support Services: Correlates and Consequences for Resource Utilization.

Policymakers and community organizations have implemented numerous programs and services to support the more than 40 million family caregivers in the United States. However, the existence of such services is not sufficient to ensure equitable and optimal access and utilization. Using data from the Caregiving in the US study (2015; = 1,185), we estimated that nearly one in five family caregivers do not meet broad eligibility criteria for support services.

Cancer across the ages: a narrative review of caregiver burden for patients of all ages.

Problem Identification: Approximately 2.8 million Americans care for an individual with cancer. Because the literature typically describes caregiving experiences within patient age-groups (e.

Trajectories of social resource use among informal lung cancer caregivers.

Background: Social support is a key component in maintaining cancer caregiver well-being, and many resources exist to facilitate caregivers' use of social support (eg, cancer support groups). This study sought to determine how informal cancer caregivers use social resources over the course of caregiving.

Methods: The data are from the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System study of informal caregivers (n = 202) of patients with recently diagnosed lung cancer.

Caregiver Well-being and the Quality of Cancer Care.

Objectives: To conceptualize the pathways and assess current evidence for the relationship between caregiver well-being and the quality of the cancer patient's care.

Data Sources: Qualitative, quantitative, and theoretical literature and official reports.

Conclusion: Caregiver well-being has both direct and indirect effects on the quality of cancer care, including care received from the health care team, from the caregiver themselves, and in relation to patients' own self-management.

Dyadic associations between perceived social support and cancer patient and caregiver health: An actor-partner interdependence modeling approach.

Objective: Social support may have a positive impact on health outcomes for patients and caregivers, but the extent to which social support and health outcomes are interrelated for both is unknown. We examine the dyadic interrelationships between social support and health among cancer patients and their caregivers.

Methods: Lung and colorectal cancer (CRC) patient and caregiver dyadic data were obtained from the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium.

Preventive care service use among cancer survivors with serious psychological distress: An analysis of the medical expenditure panel survey data.

Serious psychological distress (SPD) can adversely impact health and quality of life after cancer. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between SPD and the receipt of preventive care services and cancer screening among survivors and adults without a cancer history. A total of 12,564 cancer survivors and 160,023 adults without a cancer history as comparison group were identified from the population-based Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008-2015).

Adequacy of Depression Treatment in Spouses of Cancer Survivors: Findings From a Nationally Representative US Survey.

Background: Recent research suggests that mental health problems in spouses of cancer survivors are associated with worse mental health in the survivors themselves. Adequately treating spousal mental health problems therefore represents an opportunity to improve outcomes for both cancer survivors and their co-surviving family members.

Objective: Using nationally representative data, this study sought to determine how depression treatment differs between spouses of cancer survivors with depression compared to the general married population and assess rural/urban disparities in treatment.

Internal resources among informal caregivers: trajectories and associations with well-being.

Purpose: The experiences, skills, and internal resources that informal caregivers bring into their role may play a critical part in their mental health and well-being. This study examined how caregiver internal resources changed over a 10 year period, and how this was related to caregivers' well-being.

Methods: Data are from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, a national sample of adults, at two time points: 1995-1996 (T1) and 2004-2006 (T2).

The role of medical/nursing skills training in caregiver confidence and burden: A CanCORS study.

Background: Informal cancer caregivers provide essential support to cancer patients, including performing direct medical/nursing tasks, assisting with activities of daily living, and offering social support. This study examined associations between the receipt of medical/nursing skills training and the caregiver burden as well as the mediation of caregiving confidence on this relationship in a sample of caregivers of lung and colorectal cancer patients.

Methods: Caregivers who had been identified by cancer patients in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance consortium completed a questionnaire assessing the care provided, the type of medical/nursing skills training received, the burden (measured with the modified short-form Zarit Burden Interview), and the confidence in caring for their patient's physical needs.

Interrelationships Between Health Behaviors and Coping Strategies Among Informal Caregivers of Cancer Survivors.

Background: Recent research among cancer survivors suggests that health behaviors and coping are intertwined, with important implications for positive behavior change and health. Informal caregivers may have poor health behaviors, and caregivers' health behaviors have been linked to those of survivors.

Aims: This hypothesis generating study assessed the correlations among health behaviors and coping strategies in a population of lung and colorectal cancer caregivers.