PROPCare: Practice Of supporting Partners and family Carers: They are not our patients – a system failure or not?

The project would be suitable for an Honours, Masters Dissertation or PhD student.

In hospitals, patients are the focus of care, they have a UR number and hospitals can bill for their care; this is not the case for carers. Family carers of patients with pancreatic cancer are confronted with the need to assist in the management of complex physical symptoms. Additionally, they face the impending loss of their loved one and are twice as likely to experience anxiety as the patients they cared for. Best practice supportive care delivery for cancer carers includes having a protocol for supportive care needs assessment and referral pathways, conducting needs assessment periodically using carer-specific validated questionnaire, and developing a supportive care plan. This project will involve interviews with oncology staff and/or primary care practitioners to gain insights into supportive care screening and the support interface between acute and primary care of this population.