Communicating with Caregivers: Strategies for HCPs

Caregivers of patients diagnosed with cancer often don’t allow themselves to connect to the negative emotions that arise. Discussion with Dr. Allison Applebaum focuses on the importance of coaching caregivers to ask for help, problem solve, formulate questions to ask the oncologist, have potentially challenging conversations with their loved one, and to receive professional and peer support. As Dr. Applebaum states, the simplest and most powerful intervention a healthcare professional can do is to ask the caregiver, whether in person or via telehealth, “How are you doing and what can I do to support you?” Tune in for strategies and an interesting discussion.