Caregivers' Strengths-Skills:Managing Older Cancer Patients' Symptoms

描述（由申请人提供）：我们建议实施并评估家庭护理人员短期解决问题技能培训项目，以低收入老年（60岁以上）癌症治疗后患者为对象。干预的目标是使家庭照顾者具备解决问题的技能和知识，使他们能够更适应地处理其老年亲属在癌症生存期间可能出现的任何症状。通过关注家庭在治疗后期间缓和治疗工作中的潜在作用，我们建议我们能够通过增强症状识别，改善症状控制，与卫生专业人员进行宣传以及坚持症状管理方案来影响患者与健康相关的生活质量。完成积极治疗的老年癌症患者的家庭照护者将从社区/移民健康中心（C/MHCs）累积。护理人员和患者将被跟踪十个月。具体目标是：

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to implement and evaluate the efficacy of a short-term problem-solving skills training program for familial caregivers to lower income older (60+) post-treatment cancer patients. The goal of the intervention is to equip family caregivers with problem-solving skills and knowledge that will provide them with a more adaptive means of attending to any symptoms their elderly relative may be experience during the cancer survivorship period. By focusing attention on families' potential role in palliative care efforts during the post-treatment period, we propose that we will be able to impact patients' health related quality of life, by fostering enhanced symptom recognition, improved symptom control, advocacy with health professionals, and adherence to symptom management options. Familial caregivers to older cancer patients who have completed active treatment will be accrued from Community/Migrant Health Centers (C/MHCs). Caregivers and patients will be followed for ten months. The specific aims are to: (1) Deliver a brief problem-solving training program with regard to symptom management ("Problem-solving") to enhance caregiver skills (i.e., perceived self-efficacy, social problem-solving and communication) of familial caregivers to older post-treatment cancer patients. (2) Evaluate the efficacy of problem-solving in enhancing caregiver skills, relative to participating in a caregiver support group ("Support"): (a) Assess short- and long-term change in caregiver skills reported by caregivers assigned to either the Problem-solving condition or the Support condition; and, (b) Compare change reported by caregivers in the Problem-solving condition, relative to reports by those in the Support condition; (3) Assess the impact of change in caregiver skills on: (a) Change in patients' symptomology and physical functioning, depressive symptomology, anxiety, quality of life, perceptions of and satisfaction with care ("patient outcomes"); (b) Change in caregivers' depressive symptomology, anxiety, quality of life, perceptions of and satisfaction with patient care ("caregiver outcomes"). (4) Disseminate information that informs family training in palliation and symptom control to participating C/MHCs and other C/MHCs serving these populations, contingent on demonstrating beneficial program outcomes.