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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.g., pediatrics, geriatrics), the purpose of this narrative review was to describe common and unique burdens and distress among caregivers of cancer-patients of different ages. LITERATURE SEARCH: We identified representative peer-reviewed manuscripts related to caregivers of pediatric, adolescent, young-, middle-, and late-adult oncology patients. We combined search terms "caregiver" and "cancer" with "burden," "distress," and/or age-related terms ("pediatric" or "geriatric"). Included studies focused on factors of caregiver-burden and distress. DATA EVALUATION/SYNTHESIS: Universal cancer-caregiving experiences include negative impacts on work-productivity, finances, social-/family-dynamics, and physical/emotional health. Age-related life experiences shape outcomes; pediatric caregivers may have fewer financial resources, whereas concurrent comorbidities create challenges for geriatric caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiving for cancer patients has universal, shared, and patient age-specific burdens. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Supportive care based on patient-age may improve caregiver well-being.
Junkins et al. (Wed,) studied this question.