{"entity":{"id":"idea-moon-caregiver-in-the-plan","kind":"idea","name":"Formal caregiver assessment and training written into every treatment plan","aka":[],"tldr":"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.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"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)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.7156"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-patient-voice","b-survivorship"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"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.","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","cost":"small","horizonYears":2},"route":"/ideas/idea-moon-caregiver-in-the-plan/","neighbours":{"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-patient-voice","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Patients lack understanding, navigation and agency","route":"/bottlenecks/b-patient-voice/"},{"id":"b-survivorship","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Survivorship and late effects are neglected","route":"/bottlenecks/b-survivorship/"}],"technology":[{"id":"rejuv-life-children-of-a-parent-with-cancer","kind":"technology","name":"Children of a parent treated for cancer","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-children-of-a-parent-with-cancer/"},{"id":"rejuv-life-carers","kind":"technology","name":"The carer's own recovery: what is known about the person who is not the patient","route":"/technologies/rejuv-life-carers/"}]}}