The Hidden Morbidity of Cancer: Burden in Caregivers of Patients with Brain Metastases

Marlon Garzo Saria; Adeline Nyamathi; Linda R Phillips; Annette L Stanton; Lorraine Evangelista; Santosh Kesari; Sally Maliski

doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2016.10.002

The Hidden Morbidity of Cancer: Burden in Caregivers of Patients with Brain Metastases

Nurs Clin North Am. 2017 Mar;52(1):159-178. doi: 10.1016/j.cnur.2016.10.002.

Authors

Marlon Garzo Saria¹, Adeline Nyamathi², Linda R Phillips², Annette L Stanton³, Lorraine Evangelista⁴, Santosh Kesari⁵, Sally Maliski⁶

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Trials and Research, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Providence Saint John's Health Center, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, 2200 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA. Electronic address: sariam@jwci.org.
² University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, 700 Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
⁴ Nursing Science, University of California, Irvine, 106 Berk Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3959, USA.
⁵ Department of Translational Neuro-Oncology and Neurotherapeutics, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Providence Saint John's Health Center, 2200 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA.
⁶ University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, 700 Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Mail Stop 2029, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.

Abstract

Caregiving is a highly individualized experience. Although numerous articles have been published on caregiver burden from a variety of diagnoses and conditions, this article presents the unique features of caregiving in patients with brain metastases. Improved long-term survival, concerns about disease recurrence or progression, the cancer experience (initial diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, recurrence, progression, and end of life), and the increasing complexity of cancer treatments add to the demands placed on the caregivers of patients with brain metastases. Health care professionals must identify caregiver burden and administer the appropriate interventions, which must be as unique and individualized as the caregivers' experiences.

Keywords: Brain metastases; Cancer; Caregiver burden; Caregivers; Neuro-oncology.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Psychological*
Brain Neoplasms / nursing*
Caregivers / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Neoplasm Metastasis*
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / nursing*
Quality of Life
Stress, Psychological*

Grants and funding

R21 AG053162/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States