Abstract
Although the exact economic impact of cancer and other noncommunicable diseases is not completely understood, there is little doubt that the impact is immense. Due to premature death and disability, about $895 billion of economic impact was debited in 2008 globally without including the direct medical cost, which could further increase the financial lost. Healthcare expenditures for cancer have systematically increased significantly and are projected to increase further over the next decade. In the midst of such a financial impact, healthcare systems have introduced system-based changes as a response to increasing efficiency. These changes have also resulted in more responsibilities being placed on informal caregivers. The chapter provides an overview of the concept of efficiency not only in the wider healthcare context but also in the specific context of cancer. The chapter thoroughly discusses informal caregivers as drivers of efficiency, highlighting their potential to provide patient-center care and improve health outcomes through their role.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sorato MM, Asl AA, Davari M (2020) Improving health care system efficiency for equity, quality and access: does the healthcare decision making involve the concerns of equity? Explan Rev J Health Med Econ 6(1):45
OECD (2017) Tackling wasteful spending on health. OECD Publishing, Paris
Chalkidou K, Appleby J (2017) Eliminating waste in healthcare spending. Br Med J 356:j570
Wait S, Han D, Muthu V, Oliver K, Chrostowski S, Florindi F, de Lorenzo F, Gandouet B, Spurrier G, Ryll B, Wierinck L, Szucs T, Hess R, Rosvall-Puplett T, Roediger A, Arora J, Yared W, Hanna S, Steinmann K, Aapro M (2017) Towards sustainable cancer care: reducing inefficiencies, improving outcomes—a policy report from the All.Can initiative. J Cancer Policy 13:47–64
Palmer S, Torgerson DJ (1999) Economic notes: definitions of efficiency. BMJ 318(7191):1136. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7191.1136
Chisholm DED (2010) Improving health system efficiency as a means of moving towards universal coverage. Background paper for world health report: health systems financing: the path to universal coverage. WHO, Geneva
Young J, Hulme C, Smith A, Buckell J, Godfrey M, et al. Health services and delivery research. Measuring and optimising the efficiency of community hospital inpatient care for older people: the MoCHA mixed-methods study. NIHR Journals Library
All.Can. Towards sustainable cancer care: Reducing inefficiencies, improving outcomes. Available at file:///C:/Users/andreas.charalambous/Downloads/AllCan-Policy-report_A4_Interactive_desktop.pdf
Ribeiro O, Brandão D, Oliveira AF, Teixeira L, Paúl C (2020 Aug) Positive aspects of care in informal caregivers of community-dwelling dementia patients. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs 27(4):330–341. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12582
Metzelthin SF, Verbakel E, Veenstra MY, van Exel J, Ambergen AW, Kempen GIJM (2017) Positive and negative outcomes of informal caregiving at home and in institutionalised long-term care: a cross-sectional study. BMC Geriatr 17(1):232. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-017-0620-3
Bom J, Bakx P, Schut F, van Doorslaer E (2019) The impact of informal caregiving for older adults on the health of various types of caregivers: a systematic review. Gerontologist 59(5):e629–e642. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny137
Ochoa C, Buchanan Lunsford N, Lee Smith J (2020) Impact of informal cancer caregiving across the cancer experience: a systematic literature review of quality of life. Palliative Supportive Care 18(2):220–240. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951519000622
Papastavrou E, Charalambous A, Tsangari H (2012) How do informal caregivers of patients with cancer cope: a descriptive study of the coping strategies employed. Eur J Oncol Nurs 16(3):258–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2011.06.001
Papastavrou E, Charalambous A, Tsangari H, Karayiannis G (2012) The burdensome and depressive experience of caring: what cancer, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease caregivers have in common. Cancer Nurs 35(3):187–194. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0b013e31822cb4a0
Adejoh SO, Boele F, Akeju D et al (2021) The role, impact, and support of informal caregivers in the delivery of palliative care for patients with advanced cancer: a multi-country qualitative study. Palliat Med 35(3):552–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216320974925
Wittenberg Y, Kwekkeboom R, Staaks J, Verhoeff A, de Boer A (2018) Informal caregivers’ views on the division of responsibilities between themselves and professionals: a scoping review. Health Soc Care Community 26(4):e460–e473. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12529
Cejalvo E, Martí-Vilar M, Merino-Soto C, Aguirre-Morales MT (2021) Caregiving role and psychosocial and individual factors: a systematic review. Healthcare 9:1690. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121690
Albini A. The case of the caregivers. CancerWorld. Available at https://cancerworld.net/the-case-of-the-caregivers/ (Shiell A, Donaldson C, Mitton C, et al. Health economic evaluation. J Epidemiol Commun Health 2002;56:85–88)
Scholl I, Zill JM, Härter M, Dirmaier J (2014) An integrative model of patient-centeredness - a systematic review and concept analysis. PLoS One 9(9):e107828
A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2001. Committee on Quality of Health Care in America Crossing the Quality Chasm: Institute of Medicine (U.S.)
Davis K, Schoenbaum SC, Audet AM (2005) A 2020 vision of patient-centered primary care. J Gen Intern Med 20(10):953–957. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0178.x
Stoop A, Lette M, Ambugo EA et al (2020) Improving person-centredness in integrated care for older people: experiences from thirteen integrated care sites in Europe. Int J Integr Care 20(2):16. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.5427
Langberg EM, Dyhr L, Davidsen AS (2019) Development of the concept of patient-centredness - a systematic review. Patient Educ Couns 102(7):1228–1236
Hengelaar AH, van Hartingsveldt M, Wittenberg Y, van Etten-Jamaludin F, Kwekkeboom R, Satink T (2018 Jul) Exploring the collaboration between formal and informal care from the professional perspective-a thematic synthesis. Health Soc Care Community 26(4):474–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12503
Smith PD, Martin B, Chewning B et al (2018) Improving health care communication for caregivers: a pilot study. Gerontol Geriatr Educ 39(4):433–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2016.1188810
Blanck E, Fors A, Ali L, Brännström M, Ekman I (2021) Informal carers in Sweden – striving for partnership. Int J Qual Stud Health Well Being 16:1. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2021.1994804
Toscan J, Mairs K, Hinton S, Stolee P (2012) Integrated transitional care: patient, informal caregiver and health care provider perspectives on care transitions for older persons with hip fracture. Int J Integr Care 12:13
Boros AK (2010) Clinics and home-based care organisations: an interface between the formal and informal health sectors. Afr J AIDS Res 9:315–324
Buscher A, Astedt-Kurki P, Paavilainen E, Schnepp W (2011) Negotiations about helpfulness–the relationship between formal and informal care in home care arrangements. Scand J Caring Sci 25(4):706–715
Backman C, Cho-Young D (2019) Engaging patients and informal caregivers to improve safety and facilitate person- and family-centered care during transitions from hospital to home – a qualitative descriptive study. Patient Prefer Adherence 13:617–626. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S201054
Willemse E, Anthierens S, Farfan-Portet MI et al (2016) Do informal caregivers for elderly in the community use support measures? A qualitative study in five European countries. BMC Health Serv Res 16:270. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1487-2
Bristol AA, Mata AC, Mickens M et al (2021) “You feel very isolated”: effects of COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver social connections. Gerontol Geriatric Med. https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211060166
Pearlin LI, Mullan JT, Semple SJ et al (1990) Caregiving and the stress process: an overview of concepts and their measures. Gerontologist 30:583–594
Zwar L, König H-H, Hajek A (2020) Psychosocial consequences of transitioning into informal caregiving in male and female caregivers: findings from a population-based panel study. Soc Sci Med 264:113281
Brown RM, Brown SL (2014) Informal caregiving: a reappraisal of effects on caregivers. Soc Issues Policy Rev 8:74–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12002
Broese van Groenou MI, De Boer A (2016) Providing informal care in a changing society. Eur J Ageing 13:271–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-016-0370-7
Greenwood N, Mezey G, Smith R (2018) Social exclusion in adult informal carers: a systematic narrative review of the experiences of informal carers of people with dementia and mental illness. Maturitas 112:39–45
van der Sanden RL, Stutterheim SE, Pryor JB, Kok G, Bos AE (2014) Coping with stigma by association and family burden among family members of people with mental illness. J Nerv Ment Dis 202(10):710–717
Daly L, McCarron M, Higgins A, McCallion P (2012) ‘Sustaining place’—a grounded theory of how informal carers of people with dementia manage alterations to relationships within their social worlds. J Clin Nurs 22:501–512
Rokach A, Miller Y, Schick S, Bercovitch M (2014) Coping with loneliness: caregivers of cancer patients. Clin Nurs Stud 2:42
Rokach A, Rosenstreich E, Brill S, Aryeh IG (2016) Caregivers of chronic pain patients: their loneliness and burden. Nurs Palliative Care 1:111–117
Rokach A, Rosenstreich E, Brill S, Aryeh IG (2017) People with chronic pain and caregivers: experiencing loneliness and coping with it. Curr Psychol:1–8
Perlman D, Peplau LA (1981) Toward a social psychology of loneliness. In: Duck D, Gilmour G (eds) Personal relationships in disorder. Academic Press, London, pp 31–56
Dahlberg L, McKee KJ (2014) Correlates of social and emotional loneliness in older people: evidence from an English community study. Aging Ment Health 18(4):504–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2013.856863
Konstantina V, Julie B, Manuela B, John V, Mark A, Shaun L, Michael W (2017) Experiences of loneliness associated with being an informal caregiver: a qualitative investigation. Front Psychol 8:585
Trees R (2019) Caring for the elderly – identity transitions in informal carers. Thesis or dissertation. Business School, The University of Hull
O’Connor D (2007) Self-identifying as a caregiver: exploring the positioning process. J Aging Stud 21(2):165–174
O'Shaughnessy M, Lee K, Lintern T (2010) Changes in the couple relationship in dementia care: spouse carers’ experiences. Dementia 9(2):237–258
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Charalambous, A. (2023). Informal Caregivers in Care Efficiency. In: Charalambous, A. (eds) Informal Caregivers: From Hidden Heroes to Integral Part of Care . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16745-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16745-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16744-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16745-4
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)