Caregiver Communication About Cancer

Cancer presents moments of decision-making and change that are unusual to any family. This app provides you with tools for communicating about cancer with the patient, local and distant family members, and healthcare providers. Communication is important when someone in your family is diagnosed with cancer. Why? Talking about cancer affects how you help the patient make decisions about cancer treatment. If you or the patient feels nervous or sad, these feelings can affect the kind of communication you share with each other and with doctors and nurses. Caregiver Communication guides you in conversations about cancer, providing you with topics to discuss, example questions to ask healthcare providers, and tools for caregiving.

Features:
* Searchable medical word dictionary
* Audio meditation for relaxation to promote rest
* Example questions about chemotherapy
* Ability to keep lists and reminders for caregiving
* References for caregiving assistance

Communication affects:
• how much care and support you receive from others
• how friends and other family members help you and the patient
• how much you understand about your family member’s cancer and what it means for the future

We developed this app for family caregivers of people facing cancer. This app is the result of teaching communication in healthcare. For the last 12 years, we have taught COMFORT communication to healthcare providers. COMFORT is a health communication training program that promotes four main ideas:
• Get to know the patient and her/his life
• Support the family caregiver
• Take care of the heart and mind as well as the body
• View communication as a shared process with patient and family

At its core, COMFORT is about the story of the patient and family and their life before and during illness. This app is meant to strengthen the relationship and trust among patients, families, and healthcare providers. We are glad to offer this resource to help families communicate about cancer.