AUSTIN, Texas—What most family caregivers of persons with cancer need is a good night’s sleep, says a University of Texas at Austin nursing researcher who has received a $547,404 grant from the National Institutes of Health to look at ways to alleviate the problem of chronic sleep loss.
Family caregivers are expected to provide thousands of hours of care for people diagnosed with cancer this year, said Dr. Patricia Carter, assistant professor of nursing.
“As a result of providing this care,” she said, “family caregivers report difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, moderate to severe depressive symptoms and poorer quality of life.”
Carter is exploring the feasibility of a behavioral sleep intervention and its effects on sleep quality, depression and quality of life in family caregivers. Her three-year study is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health.
The intervention uses behavioral modification, relaxation therapy and education. To get the complete picture of caregiver sleep, participants wear an actigraph to show objective sleep quality. They also provide their own perceptions of how they are sleeping. In the past, there has been little research looking at sleep for family caregivers of persons with advanced stage cancer, Carter said.
What she has found in her preliminary studies is that caregivers “are basically at a loss when it comes to sleep aids. They can’t use sleep medications because they work too well and caregivers can’t monitor the patient during the night,” she said.
“Caregivers know that we can’t always make the cancer go away, but have told us, ‘If I can just get a good night’s sleep, I will have the energy to do what I want to do, care for my family member.’”
Carter is working with three outpatient cancer centers in Austin to recruit participants. Participants must be adults who are living in the same home with—and helping—the cancer patient.
Results of the study will give caregivers and those in the health care professions the necessary tools of support, education and resource information to help patients and families get a better night’s sleep.
For more information contact: Nancy Neff, 512-471-6504.
