The primary caregiver of the palliative care patient – the hidden patient of the family physician

Palliative care aims at improving the quality of life for patients and their families who are dealing with life-threate­ning illnesses. In Romania, most patients re­quiring pal­lia­tive care are looked after at home by a pri­mary care­giver, typically an unpaid family member. This study exa­mined the impact of caregiving on primary care­givers, in­vol­ving 140 patient-caregiver pairs, with on­co­lo­gi­cal and non-oncological conditions. The findings in­di­cate that pri­mary caregivers of non-oncological pa­tients ex­pe­rience sig­ni­fi­cantly greater physical and emo­tio­nal bur­dens compared to caregivers of cancer pa­tients. Over half of caregivers exhibited moderate to severe anxiety, and de­pres­sion was identified in ap­pro­xi­mately half of them. Caregiver burden and associated emo­tio­nal disorders are influenced by the severity of the pa­tient’s condition and the duration from diagnosis to the initiation of palliative care. Early iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of these challenges allows for timely medical in­ter­ven­tions aimed at preserving the health and quality of life of primary caregivers.