Complex home care: part III--economic impact on family caregiver quality of life and patients' clinical outcomes.

Family caregivers perform a significant role in the care of patients with chronic illnesses and prescribed life-long complex home care treatments. Both quantitative and qualitative data from this study suggest the mental health burdens and financial costs of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) caregiving are extensive. In this study, the variability in HPN out-of-pocket expenses and the uncertainty of incurring such extensive costs created additional financial worries within already stressed families. Based on these data, interventions to improve caregivers' sleepiness, depression, and physical health could be hypothesized to improve both patients' and caregivers' quality of life and reduce the frequency of patients' catheter-related infections. These specific nursing interventions also could improve caregiver health and subsequently reduce the costs of caregivers' health care.