# Formal caregiver assessment and training written into every treatment plan

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-moon-caregiver-in-the-plan/  
OnCo record `idea-moon-caregiver-in-the-plan` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The person looking after a cancer patient at home is assessed, trained (medicines, symptoms, when to call) and supported as part of the plan, not left to work it out.

## Summary

Informal caregivers deliver most cancer care and report high distress, financial loss and health deterioration; caregiver competence predicts patient admissions. The proposal is a caregiver assessment at treatment start (capacity, health, needs), a short skills programme for home management, and a named contact, recorded in the patient's plan with caregiver-reported outcomes tracked.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Caregiver assessment and training reduce patient emergency admissions and caregiver depression scores and increase completion of oral therapies managed at home.
- Rationale: Oral and outpatient therapy has moved care into the home without moving the training; dementia and stroke care have shown caregiver programmes are effective.
- Proposed test: Randomised trial of caregiver programme versus usual care for patients starting oral or outpatient regimens; endpoints admissions, adherence, caregiver burden.
- Maturity: early-clinical
- Actor: clinic

## Sources

- Bottleneck evidence (Patients lack understanding, navigation and agency): Basch et al., Overall survival results of a trial assessing patient-reported outcomes for symptom monitoring during routine cancer treatment (JAMA 2017): https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.7156

## Connected records

- bottlenecks: [Patients lack understanding, navigation and agency](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-patient-voice/), [Survivorship and late effects are neglected](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-survivorship/)
- technologies: [Children of a parent treated for cancer](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-life-children-of-a-parent-with-cancer/), [The carer's own recovery: what is known about the person who is not the patient](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-life-carers/)

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