The purpose of this project is to implement a program that will reduce the strain and burden to the oncology patient’s informal caregiver. There are currently about 4 million cancer patients being cared for at home by informal caregivers with little to no training or support (Romito, Goldzweig, Cormio, Hagedoorn, & Andersen, 2013). Proper training and support of the caregiver can lead to improved patient care, reduced strain on the caregiver, and can prevent further complications in the patient while maintaining the health of the caregiver. Success of the program will be obtained through pre- and post-intervention measurements utilizing the Modified Caregiver Strain Index- MCSI (see example in Appendix C). In order to achieve the desired …show more content…
Nursing staff deliver primary care throughout treatment working autonomously to build relationships, provide expert crisis and symptom management, and provide patient and family education about disease processes, treatments, and quality of life concerns. There are two social workers, four case managers, a nurse manager, two palliative care doctors, and one clinical nurse specialist (CNS) assigned to the clinic. Patients are assigned to a primary team upon diagnosis or beginning of care at the clinic. Although the staff is separated into different care teams, there is a strong collaborative effort amongst the staff focused on providing the highest level of evidence-based, patient family centered …show more content…
In order to implement the psychoeducational intervention that is most appropriate and feasible to the WXXX outpatient clinic, an initial survey was conducted of the members of the clinical staff. Additionally, patient comments from satisfaction surveys were evaluated and the data collected was considered to ensure that patient and caregiver values and expectations were included in the proposed intervention. The Iowa Model of Evidence Based Practice to Promote Quality Care and Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory were used as guides to develop a proposal that supports the patients and their families, is in alignment with the organizational mission, and garnered the support of key stakeholders. Lewin’s change theory provides a simple and practical model focused on three key steps: unfreezing, movement and refreezing (Schriner et al., 2010). The Iowa Model and Lewin’s change theory were used as guiding frameworks because they are user friendly, and provide detailed steps through each stage of