Identifying and examining the effectiveness of interventions to support carers of people with cancer in rural settings

Background. Supporting the health and wellbeing of those caring for someone with cancer is a priority  particularly inresource limited rural areas where there isalack of support for both thepatient and thecarer.  Informal caregivers (close family and friends) can also have their own psychosocial needs that often go unmet.  Todate, there have been no systematic reviews that have examined thesolely rural evidence inthis area, so  it is crucial to explore the effectiveness of interventions designed to support informal caregivers of people  with cancer inrural settings. Objectives. Toidentify and examine theeffectiveness of interventions that are  delivered tosupport informal caregivers ofpeople with cancer inrural and remote settings. Methodology. The protocol was registered onPROSPERO (CRD42023468015). MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO,  and Scopus, were searched using both subject headings and keywords for articles published between  2013–2023. Thereview was conducted inline with thePreferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and  Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The included studies were critically appraised using theMixed Methods  Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Tovisualise therisk-of-bias assessment, theRisk ofBias Visualization (ROBVIS) web?based tool was employed. Data extraction was performed using apredetermined template inMicrosoft Excel. Results. Overall, 8,314 articles were screened against theeligibility criteria. A total of 23articles were included  inthe review. Interventions that actively involve caregivers intheir development and implementation tend  tobe more successful, leveraging their expertise and ensuring relevance, while interventions solely reliant  ondigital or telehealth solutions may face challenges inrural areas due tolimited infrastructure and digital  literacy. Conclusions. The synthesis of these studies underscores thevariation of interventions currently available for  rural caregivers and theeffectiveness of theinterventions. The studies offers crucial insights into thecomplexities and challenges faced by this specific group of caregivers