Carers of head and neck cancer patients face financial ruin, says study

Looking after someone with head and neck cancer can have huge financial consequences, with many carers unaware of how to access entitlements, a new study shows.

A paper just published in the Journal of Psycho-oncology by researchers at the National Cancer Registry also found that head and neck cancer tends to be diagnosed in older people and often in people who are from poorer backgrounds.

The study found that the financial impact often begins soon after the patient’s diagnosis, with carers having to pay for travel and commuting costs to and from hospital. They sometimes have to give up work or reduce their working hours when their relative/friend begins treatment.

Patients with head and neck cancer often have difficulties returning to full-time work after treatment, which further reduces the income coming into the carer’s household.

Carers who have pre-existing financial commitments such as mortgages or college expenses can find themselves in very difficult financial situations.

“Understandably, this causes great distress and anxiety because of the reduced household income,” the researchers say. “The carer may often keep their household’s financial difficulties from their relative/friend with cancer which means that they shoulder the emotional stress alone.”

A number of carers described struggling to access medical cards, which people with cancer do not automatically receive. Those who did obtain them were constantly worried that their relative/friend’s medical cards could be taken off them.

Several carers also said that they and their relative/friend were unsure about their entitlements to claim social welfare allowances and medical cards.

Lead author of the study, Myles Balfe, researcher at the National Cancer Registry and lecturer in Medical Sociology in UCC, said: “The financial impacts caused by caring for someone with head and neck cancer are clear and worrying. These carers, who are often older and poorer, are left struggling with the aftermath of cancer on their families and are sometimes in very difficult financial circumstances.

“We need to make sure that these people are given the information that they need to claim all of the entitlements that they are due.

“We must not forget that cancer can have a huge financial impact on older people, who are often a hidden group, and that this financial impact can last for months and years after treatment has finished.”