National Cancer Institute

Family caregivers may be spouses, partners, children, relatives, or friends who help the patient with activities of daily living and health care needs at home. Many cancer patients today receive part of their care at home. Hospital stays are shorter than they used to be, and there are now more treatments that don’t need an overnight hospital stay or can be given outside of the hospital. People with cancer are living longer and many patients want to be cared for at home as much as possible. It is important that the family caregiver is a part of the team right from the start. These resources are about adult family caregivers in cancer.