Substantial time associated with cancer caregiving

Abstract

Researchers analyzing data from the ACS Quality of Life Survey for Caregivers found that the value of informal caregivers' time spent caring for their loved ones was significant and has important implications for future health care policy and practice. At the 2006 median wage, the average value of informal caregiver time during the 2 years after patient diagnosis was $47,710 for the 10 cancer sites evaluated. The value of caregiver time varied by cancer site, with the highest value for lung and ovarian cancers, at $72,702 and $66,210, respectively. The lowest value was $38,334 for breast cancer patients. “The amount of time spent caring for lung cancer patients is so much more intense than that for breast cancer, which usually can be caught earlier and has so many more treatments available,” Rachel Spillers Cannady notes. The value of caregiver time also varied by cancer stage at diagnosis, ranging from $40,973 for localized disease to $71,278 for distant disease at diagnosis. In addition to caregiving time, families often face other financial burdens, including out-of-pocket medical costs and reduced participation in the workforce. Changes in caregivers' employment also may affect families' health insurance coverage as well as costs to employers, ranging from retraining and other replacement costs, absenteeism, and loss of productivity, researchers note.