Sun, V., Grant, M., Koczywas, M., Freeman, B., Zachariah, F., Fujinami, R., . . . Del Ferraro, C. (2015). Effectiveness of an interdisciplinary palliative care intervention for family caregivers in lung cancer. Cancer, 121, 3737–3745.

To test the effectiveness of an overall supportive and psychoeducational care intervention on caregiver quality of life and patient symptoms

A quality of life assessment was conducted at baseline for patients and caregivers. Results were used to develop a palliative care plan that was discussed at weekly meetings by the interdisciplinary care team. Symptom management and supportive care referrals and community resources were identified as needed. Family caregivers also received four educational sessions and a manual of all teaching content. Questionnaires were completed at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks. A comparison usual care group was recruited after the intervention group and had study measures obtained at baseline and at 7 and 12 weeks.

• N = 354 caregiver and patient pairs   
• MEAN AGE = 57.3 years
• MALES: 37.3%, FEMALES: 66.7%
• KEY DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: All patients had lung cancer.
• OTHER KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: Of the patients, 15.3% were Asian, 4.5% were Black, and 6.7% were Hispanic or Latino. About one-third were employed.

• SITE: Single site   
• SETTING TYPE: Outpatient    
• LOCATION: Southern California

PHASE OF CARE: Late effects and survivorship

Prospective, nonrandomized, parallel-group trial

• City of Hope quality of life tool
• Montgomery Borgotta Caregiver Burden Scale
• Preparedness for Caregiving Scale
• Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) for patient quality of life and symptoms
• Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp)
• Distress Thermometer

Caregivers in the experimental group had improved quality of life in the social well-being domain (p < 0.001) and distress (p = 0.01). Caregivers in the intervention group reported less problem with objective burden or life disruption (p < 0.001).

The palliative care intervention provided here was associated with lower caregiver strain and burden in some aspects compared to those who did not receive the intervention.

• Risk of bias (no blinding)
• Risk of bias (no random assignment) 
• Risk of bias (no appropriate attentional control condition)
• Usual care was not fully described.

The findings were limited because of study design; however, the findings support the benefit of palliative care for caregivers.