Effect of Palliative Care Awareness on Burden of Family Caregivers for Elderly Patients with Cancer

Background: Family caregivers face a significant burden while caring for elderly patients with cancer, which can be decreased by increasing awareness about palliative care. Purpose: To determine the effect of palliative care awareness on the level of burden for caregivers providing care for elderly patients with cancer. Design: A quasi-experimental one-group pre-post-test design was used. Setting: The study was conducted at the Oncology Department of Menoufia University Hospital, Egypt. Sample: A convenience sample of 96 caregivers who were caring for elderly patients with cancer was selected. Instruments: three instruments were used (structured interviewing questionnaire, palliative care knowledge scale (PaCKS), burden scale for family caregivers (BSFC)). Results: There was a highly statistically significant increase in the mean of total knowledge score about palliative care in post-intervention 1 (11.10 ± 1.96) and post-intervention 2 (9.93 ± 0.55) than pre-intervention (3.75 ± 1.50). There was a statistically significant reduction in the mean of total burden score from 56.94 ± 18.42 pre-intervention to 31.88 ± 16.66 post-intervention. Conclusion: Increasing awareness about palliative care was effective and crucial in decreasing the burden of family caregivers for elderly patients with cancer, and there was a significant increase in the mean of total knowledge score about palliative care. Recommendations: Palliative nursing intervention should be an important component in the management of elderly patients with cancer, besides conventional therapy.