Cancer Hospice Caregivers' Self-care Behaviors: The Role of Caregiving Tasks, Burden, and Mental Health

Cancer hospice family caregivers provide intensive support for patients at the end of life, sometimes at the expense of self-care. This secondary analysis examined the role of caregiving burden, activities of daily living, and mental health on self-care behaviors among cancer hospice family caregivers. Logistic regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic and caregiver characteristics, and model fit was evaluated with Hosmer-Lemeshow tests. Participants (N = 86) were mostly women (n = 62, 72.09%), White (n = 76, 88.37%), and spousal caregivers (n = 44, 51.16%). Almost half reported not getting enough rest (47.67%), time to exercise (47.67%), or time to slow down and rest when feeling ill (46.51%). Caregivers with better mental health reported being more likely to have enough time to exercise (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj], 1.15, [1.05, 1.26]; P =.004), rest (ORadj, 1.11, [1.01, 1.22]; P =.031), and slow down when ill (ORadj, 1.16, [1.04, 1.30]; P =.010). Controlling for sociodemographic and caregiver characteristics, men caregivers had 88% lower odds of being able to rest when ill (ORadj, 0.12, [0.03, 0.52]; P =.005) compared with women. Number of care tasks, not caregiving burden, was associated with self-care behaviors. Findings provide a preliminary understanding of factors related to caregiver self-care and have implications for increased assessment of caregiver mental health and self-care needs to better support family-oriented hospice care.