Assessing the Unmet Social Needs and Financial Hardship of Cancer Caregivers: A Scoping Review

The objective of this scoping review was to characterize published literature on unmet social needs and financial hardship among cancer caregivers. We sought to describe study attributes; assess the associations of needs with physical and psychosocial outcomes; identify tools to measure caregiver social needs and financial hardship; and examine needs-related interventions for caregivers.

Thirty-five articles were included in the review, most of which (60%) were published in the past three years (2022-2024). Financial hardship was addressed in nearly all of the included studies. There was a range of measurement tools used across the studies, and 37% of studies assessed social needs/financial hardship as part of a measure of caregiver burden. Most studies (92%) were cross-sectional and did not include a theoretical framework (59%), with only one study describing a caregiver-focused intervention. Most qualitative studies (n = 4/5) captured the interconnection among social needs. There is limited exploration of unmet social needs and financial hardship among cancer caregivers. Review findings demonstrate the need for increased research, both descriptive and interventional, on the social needs and financial hardship of cancer caregivers.