By Kara L. Buda, PhD
When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, it’s typically all hands on deck.
Spouses, partners, children, siblings and others often drop everything to take care of their loved one.
While the primary focus is understandably on the patient; research shows that a cancer diagnosis can also have a significant mental health and physical impact on caregivers as well.
The Psychosocial Oncology Clinic at Penn Medicine Princeton Cancer Center focuses on the emotional, psychological and social needs of people with cancer and their loved ones. The clinic provides individual and group therapy for people with cancer and offers support for caregivers, focusing on promoting resilience and strategies to maintain physical and emotional well-being.
Caregiving Takes Emotional, Physical Toll
Advances in medicine have enabled most patients with cancer to receive care in an outpatient setting, allowing them to remain in their home while undergoing treatment.
This means family members may provide a range of support for their loved ones — from meeting their emotional and physical needs to managing appointments and other daily tasks associated with the patients’ medical care.
At the same time, however, caregivers experience their own stressors as they navigate their loved one’s cancer experience.
Studies show that family members can experience elevated levels of anxiety, depression and emotional distress following a cancer diagnosis in a loved one. In fact, caregivers frequently report levels of emotional distress equal to or greater than those of patients themselves.
In addition, caregiving can also take a physical toll, including:
- Poor sleep and fatigue
- Weakened immune system
- Elevated risk of chronic illness, such as hypertension and heart disease
- Back and joint pain
- Poor nutrition and lack of exercise
- Skipping or delaying medical care
It’s OK to Ask for Help
If you are caring for a loved one with cancer, it’s important to consider your own needs as well. While self-care may seem like common sense, we understand that for many caregivers, self-care can feel like a distant priority. However, experiencing difficult thoughts and emotions when providing care is normal. We encourage caregivers to acknowledge these experiences and recognize that just like your loved one, you too may need extra support, and it is OK to ask for help.
For patients and families at Penn Medicine Princeton Cancer Center, help is available through the Psychosocial Oncology Clinic. Trained therapists work one-on-one with caregivers to help explore emotions, manage stress, and develop coping strategies. Using evidence-based treatment practices, therapy can:
- Help caregivers advocate for their own needs. Caregivers may put the needs of others before their own, especially when those needs feel more urgent and important. It can be challenging for caregivers to set limits or ask for help, especially when there are limited alternative care options. Therapy can provide a place where caregivers can explore these concerns and determine when it is helpful for them and for their loved ones to recruit additional support.
- Encourage self-care. To help fit in self-care in small doses, therapists often provide instruction on brief stress management tools such as mindfulness and diaphragmatic breathing as well as other self-care practices.
- Think about the future in more helpful ways. Difficult emotions and worries often arise in response to difficult situations. Therapists work with caregivers to validate emotions and explore difficult thoughts, including worries about the future. Worries can vary in their helpfulness and likelihood; close examination of difficult thoughts can help caregivers accept and adapt rather than be paralyzed by worry.
- Help caregivers connect to a sense of meaning. Often when people experience suffering, they can lose connection with what is meaningful and important to them. Using psychotherapies such as meaning-centered psychotherapy, therapists work with caregivers to find opportunities for meaning despite the challenges they may face.
- Connect caregivers with others. It’s important for caregivers to recognize they are not alone. There are many community resources available that are low cost or free of charge, including the American Cancer Society, the Red Door Community and Cancer Connects.
These tips are not meant to simplify the complexities of caregiving but rather serve as a gentle reminder that caring for oneself is a vital part of being able to care for others. The Psychosocial Oncology Clinic offers short-term services (six to eight sessions) for Princeton Cancer Center caregivers experiencing cancer related emotional distress. If the concern is related to issues such as finances or transportation, therapists will connect caregivers with the appropriate service, such as social work.
Caregivers are referred to the clinic by a member of the oncology team. During the first visit, they work together with a therapist to develop a personalized support plan. The clinic also provides individual and group therapy for people with cancer.
A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, including for caregivers. Finding healthy ways to process and cope will help make the cancer journey for you — and your loved one — a little less difficult and can improve overall well-being.
For more information about the Psychosocial Oncology Clinic at Penn Medicine Princeton Cancer Center, call (609) 853-6590.
To find a physician affiliated with Penn Medicine Princeton Health call (609) 853-6590 or visit www.princetonhcs.org
Kara L. Buda, PhD, is a post-doctoral fellow coordinating care at the Psychosocial Oncology Clinic at the Penn Medicine Princeton Cancer Center.
