Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 2025, Vol.13, No.3, 145-153 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/cge 145 Review and Progress Open Access Research Progress on Family-Involved Discharge Care Models for Cancer Patients LipinGao *, Yanling He *, Qiong Li, Yeli Huang Sixth Medical Center, General Hospital of The People’s Liberation Army, Haidian, 100048, Beijing, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Corresponding author: huangyeli88@163.com Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 2025, Vol.13, No.3 doi: 10.5376/cge.2025.13.0015 Received: 30 Apr., 2025 Accepted: 07 Jun., 2025 Published: 28 Jun., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Gao et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Gao L.P., He Y.L., Li Q., and Huang Y.L., 2025, Research progress on family-involved discharge care models for cancer patients, Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 13(3): 145-153 (doi: 10.5376/cge.2025.13.0015) Abstract This study explores the research situation of the discharge care model involving family members of cancer patients, mainly elaborating from five aspects: theoretical basis, operational principle, practical practices, encountered difficulties, and future development trends. Nowadays, cancer patients have an increasing demand for long-term disease management, and family members are becoming more and more important in their post-discharge care. Through practical operation methods such as training nursing staff, conducting nursing work through the Internet, and cooperation among multiple departments, good achievements have also been made. However, there are still some problems at present, such as insufficient professional ability of nursing staff, the lack of unified management methods, and inadequate policy and resource support. Future research should conduct more high-quality practical investigations, find nursing methods that combine standardization and personalization, promote the better integration of nursing support policies and digital technologies, so that the nursing work for cancer patients after discharge can be carried out continuously, scientifically and stably. Keywords Cancer care; Family involvement; Discharge management; Continuity of care; Multidisciplinary collaboration 1 Introduction Nowadays, people increasingly feel that cancer is like a chronic disease, and even after leaving the hospital, it still needs to be constantly managed and helped by someone. Continuous care for patients after discharge is particularly important. This enables them to adhere to treatment, control their condition, and live a better life. Especially now that cancer patients live longer, many have entered the recovery period or need long-term care (Zhang et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2023; Hayes et al., 2025). Bringing nursing support to patients' homes and communities, this discharge care approach can meet the complex and changeable needs of cancer patients. After patients are discharged from the hospital, family members are often the main force in taking care of them. They not only help with their daily life but also offer them spiritual comfort. Projects such as the collaboration among hospitals, communities and families, as well as those specifically involving family members, have all proven to be very useful, enabling patients to be more cooperative with treatment, fall ill less frequently and have a higher quality of life (Zhang et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2023). If family members are trained and supported, they can help with basic care, reduce reliance on professional care, and also make patients feel more at ease and confident during their recovery (Chaboyer et al., 2024). Family members are willing to participate, and both patients and caregivers have given positive feedback. This indicates that the practice of involving family members in care is very reliable (Eskes et al., 2020; Musters et al., 2024; Kreca et al., 2024). This study will explore these nursing models, aiming to find good ways to involve family members in nursing, solve problems such as the high care pressure on family members, and ensure that nursing measures are willing to be used by everyone and can be implemented in the long term. The aim of this study is to ensure the continuity of nursing services, facilitate smoother communication between medical staff and family members, and formulate nursing plans suitable for different disease stages and family situations. Only through in-depth research in this field can evidence-based, patient and family-centered care strategies be formulated to fully meet the needs of cancer patients after discharge.
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