Health care needs of Jordanian caregivers of patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy on an outpatient basis

This descriptive exploratory study was conducted to describe the health care needs and identify unmet needs of the caregivers of cancer patients in Jordan. A total of 82 caregivers accompanying patients to an outpatient chemotherapy clinic completed the 90-item caregiver need scale. Caregivers reported 75.6% of scale items as needs and rated these as “very important” needs on all 6 areas of the caregivers’ need scale: personal care, activity management, involvement with health care, work, interpersonal interaction and finance. Unmet needs of caregivers were a higher proportion of identified needs (76.4%) than in similar studies elsewhere. The education and support needs of caregivers need to be considered when designing care plans for cancer patients.