Academic Journal
Financial hardship in cancer family caregivers: a scoping review.
| Τίτλος: | Financial hardship in cancer family caregivers: a scoping review. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Nkrumah E; School of Nursing, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. en3@uab.edu., Odii CO; School of Nursing, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA., Bechthold AC; College of Nursing, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA., Williams CP; Department of Medicine, the University of Alabama Division of General Internal Medicine and Population Science, Birmingham, USA., Odom JN; School of Nursing, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA., Wells RD; School of Nursing, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. |
| Πηγή: | BMC palliative care [BMC Palliat Care] 2026 Jul 10; Vol. 25 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 10. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Scoping Review; Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101088685 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1472-684X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 1472684X NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Palliat Care Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2002- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Caregivers*/psychology , Caregivers*/economics , Neoplasms*/economics , Neoplasms*/psychology , Neoplasms*/complications , Financial Stress*/psychology , Financial Stress*/etiology , Cost of Illness*, Humans ; Adaptation, Psychological |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Family caregivers of adults diagnosed with cancer usually face significant financial hardship due to employment disruptions and the cost of cancer-related expenses. This leads to physical, emotional, and psychological burden on them. However, despite this important contribution, family caregivers are rarely recognized as major stakeholders in palliative and supportive care during the caregiving trajectory. Purpose: To address these gaps and inform palliative care practice, policy, and future research, we conducted a scoping review to synthesize and critically evaluate the current state of the science on how financial hardship influences decision-making regarding coping strategies and sources of support among family caregivers. Methods: Guided by the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PubMed were searched for English language articles published between January 2015 and May 2025 using the keywords: "financial distress," AND "family caregiver," AND "cancer." Results: Of 816 articles screened, 28 met the eligibility criteria. Caregivers reported financial hardships due to cancer-related income loss, employment disruptions, and out-of-pocket costs, which contributed to psychosocial and emotional burden. Across the studies, most financial, psychosocial, and emotional outcomes were self-reported. Contributions from family and friends, community organizations, and insurance systems were the sources of support for family caregivers. Caregivers employed a range of coping strategies (e.g., borrowing from family/friends, forgoing leisure and medical treatments, and sale of possessions) to manage financial hardships. Most U.S. participants (>50%) were White/Caucasian, with minimal representation of caregivers identifying with racial/ethnic minority groups. Conclusion: Financial hardships were common among family caregivers, which were linked to worse psychosocial and physical health outcomes. Findings highlight the prevalence of financial hardships among cancer caregivers. In clinical practice, clinicians may consider comprehensive screening for financial hardships and the timely introduction of cost conversations for patients. However, few articles focused on the experiences of caregivers from racial and ethnic minority groups, highlighting a critical gap and need for more inclusive research. (© 2026. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Ethics and approval and consent to participate: Our manuscript is a scoping review of previously published literature and did not involve primary data from human participants, thus formal institutional ethics approval and participant consent were not required. Consent for publication: This is a review article, so consent to publish is not applicable in this section. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Family caregivers; Family hardship; Financial navigation; Objective financial burden; Subjective financial distress |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260710 Date Completed: 20261004 Latest Revision: 20261007 |
| Update Code: | 20261007 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13637366 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12904-026-02174-1 |
| PMID: | 42426764 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1472-684X |
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| DOI: | 10.1186/s12904-026-02174-1 |