Family care of brain tumor patients

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the proposed research is to describe the impact of the caregiving and health care system environments on family caregivers of persons with brain tumors. The long-term goal is to begin a planned program of study designed to identify indicators of burden in caregivers of patients with brain tumors and test the effectiveness of interventions to maintain healthy caregivers for this group. The specific aims of the project are: 1) to describe the effects of the caregiving environment (including caregiver, patient, and family characteristics) and the health care system environment on the burden, anxiety and health of caregivers of persons with a brain tumor during the patient's illness and at the end of the patient's life; and 2) given specific characteristics of the care situation, to describe the moderating effects of mastery and knowledge of care on the burden, anxiety and health of these caregivers. Changes in health care reimbursement often make family members responsible for providing care, even though they may be ill prepared to deliver this care. Researchers have documented the effects of providing care for a person with a terminal illness such as cancer and for a person with cognitive and behavioral decline such as the dementia patient. However, there have been minimal efforts to describe the impact of providing care for persons who suffer from both a terminal trajectory of illness and a deterioration in cognitive status. This study will begin to address these issues by focusing on caregivers of persons with a brain tumor.