What is known?
Caring for a loved one with cancer can be stressful and have a significant impact on health and wellbeing. Family and friends (i.e., caregivers) living in rural areas face additional challenges in supporting someone with cancer due to the time and travel involved in accessing cancer treatment and support.
In this study, we interviewed caregivers living in a rural area to better understand how caring for someone with cancer has impacted their heath behaviours and the factors underlying these changes. We specifically asked about their diet, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, sleep, social connection and leisure, and accessing healthcare when needed.
What is new?
All rural caregivers reported changes in at least one health behaviour while caring for someone with cancer. Rural caregivers reported both positive and negative changes to their diet, physical activity, alcohol, and smoking. Sleep, social connection and leisure, and accessing healthcare when needed were negatively impacted since becoming a caregiver.
Factors underlying these changes included caregivers’ coping strategies, prioritizing the patient’s needs above their own, carer fatigue and distress, the need to travel for cancer treatment, access to facilities while staying in a city for cancer treatment, and the high costs of caregiving and travel.
What does this mean?
Caring for someone with cancer has a widespread impact on rural caregivers’ health behaviours. This study identified several opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of rural caregivers across multiple levels, from support at the individual level to policy changes to reduce the cost of caregiving and travel for people living in rural areas.
Contact: Lizzy Johnston
Reference: Johnston EA, Collins KE, Vicario JN, Sibthorpe C, Ireland MJ, Goodwin BC. Changes in rural caregivers’ health behaviors while supporting someone with cancer: A qualitative study. Cancer Medicine. DOI: 10.1002/cam4.7157.