Caregiver’s Perceptions About the Caregiver Burden Experience While Caring for Cancer Patients

Background: The caregiver burden is an important factor that must be considered in addressing the needs of cancer patients. The caregiver burden not only has a positive impact on the caregiver but also has a negative impact on the health of cancer patients. Purpose: This study explores caregivers’ perceptions of caregiver burden experiences in caring for cancer patients at a hospital in Palangka Raya, Indonesia. Methods: This study was a qualitative study with a phenomenological descriptive approach used to analyze the experiences of 11 caregivers who provide care for cancer patients. Data collection was conducted using the interview method in a hospital consultation room. Participants were selected using the inclusion criteria of informal caregivers. Results: The results of this study are the various problems perceived by caregivers (financial burden, social burden, physical burden, and psychological stress burden), the limited health services and facilities of health facilities by caregives (limited health facilities, problems with nursing service, technical problems with services) and caregiver coping in managing the perceived burden (resting the body and mind, dividing time and responsibility, health insurance, social support). Conclusions: The cancer patient caregiver burden highlights various problems and coping mechanisms used to overcome them. This study can be used as a reference for oncology nurses to provide psychoeducational interventions in providing nursing care for cancer patients by considering the caregiver burden. This study recommends further studies related to the caregiver experience of caring for patients with a specific cancer diagnosis.