Dyadic Interventions for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers: State of the Science and New Directions

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Objectives

To describe caregiving and relationship challenges in cancer and the state of the science of dyadic interventions that target survivors and caregivers.

Data Sources

Narrative review.

Conclusion

Viewing the survivor-caregiver dyad as the unit of care may improve multiple aspects of survivor and caregiver quality of life. However, several questions remain regarding how, why, and for whom dyadic interventions are effective.

Implications for Nursing Practice

Nurses should consider survivor, caregiver, and relationship needs when formulating supportive care protocols. Screening for survivor distress and extending distress screening to caregivers is an important first step in providing comprehensive psychosocial care.

Section snippets

Caregiving and Relationship Challenges Across the Cancer Continuum

Caregivers play different roles across the cancer trajectory. For example, following diagnosis, they are actively involved in treatment decisions either through active participation in informed decision-making or supporting survivor preferences.21., 22. During cancer treatment (see Table 1), caregivers provide emotional (eg, expressing empathy, validating feelings) and instrumental support (eg, symptom management, helping with errands, household tasks, transportation, and finances). Likewise,

Dyadic Interventions in Cancer: State of the Science

Given the growing acknowledgement that survivors, caregivers, and their relationships are profoundly affected by the cancer experience, there has been a growing emphasis on dyadic interventions that are offered to cancer survivors and their caregiver as the unit of care.20,56., 57., 58. Although some dyadic interventions have had no explicit or implied theoretical framework, most have been framed using one of three models: 1) individual stress and coping theories, which view social support as a

Future Directions

As this narrative review suggests, there is a robust and growing literature on dyadic processes in cancer and dyadic interventions for cancer survivors and their caregivers, and these interventions have demonstrated beneficial effects in terms of improving multiple aspects of survivor and caregiver quality of life. However, several scientific gaps remain regarding how, why, and for whom these interventions are effective, which can help drive future research (see Table 2).

First, more work is

Implications for Nursing Practice

This review highlights several implications for nursing practice (see Table 3). First, nurses working with cancer survivors should consider the individual-level needs of the survivor and caregiver, as well as their relationship needs when formulating supportive care protocols. Second, more work is needed to identify and assess survivors who are at higher risk for developing psychological problems and caregivers who may be at increased risk for experiencing strain or burden as a result of their

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    • Cited by (0)

    This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (grant no. R01CA187143 [to H. Badr]); and National Institutes of Health (grant no. P30CA125123 [to Kent Osborne]).

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