Unmet social needs for women with breast or gynecologic cancer and their caregivers
Dyadic Analysis of Unmet Social Needs Among Breast and Gynecologic Patients and Their Informal Caregivers
This project looks at how problems like food, housing, and transportation affect women with breast or gynecologic cancer and the family or friends caring for them.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11257258 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your informal caregiver (partner, family member, or friend) would be followed over time to report on multiple social needs such as food, housing, and transportation. Researchers will collect information from both members of the patient-caregiver pair to see how each person’s needs and stress relate to health, treatment adherence, and wellbeing. The work focuses on financially vulnerable women rather than mostly middle-class spousal pairs, and tracks how needs change over the course of care. The goal is to understand whether caregivers’ unmet needs influence patient outcomes and to identify where support could help.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Women with breast or gynecologic cancer, especially those who are financially vulnerable, together with an informal caregiver willing to participate, are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People without a willing informal caregiver, patients with cancers other than breast or gynecologic, or those who are not facing financial or social needs are less likely to be helped by this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could guide better social support services that reduce stress and help patients stay on treatment.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has linked single social needs and distress and has studied patient-caregiver pairs in mainly middle-class spouses, but examining multiple needs over time in financially vulnerable patient-caregiver dyads is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Chapel Hill, United States
- Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Thompson, Tess — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Thompson, Tess
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.