Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2012
Review Meta AnalysisThe effectiveness of patient-family carer (couple) intervention for the management of symptoms and other health-related problems in people affected by cancer: a systematic literature search and narrative review.
Cancer is widely acknowledged to impact on the whole family. Yet, we do not know if there is benefit (or harm) from patient-family carer interventions in the context of cancer care. ⋯ In the trials of cancer couple interventions included in the review, a pattern emerged of improvement in the emotional health of cancer patients and their carers when the intervention included support for the patient-family carer relationship. Further investigation is warranted.