Press Release
2026-02-18
National Alliance for Caregiving and CancerCare® Release New Report Highlighting Urgent Needs of Cancer Caregivers
Listening sessions reveal caregivers are essential to cancer care, yet lack training, financial protections, and overall support.
National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), in partnership with CancerCare®, today released “Caregiving Without a Roadmap: Insights from Cancer Caregivers,” a new report based on listening sessions with cancer caregivers that underscores the profound personal, financial, and healthcare challenges they face. The report highlights the urgent need for systemic-level reforms to better support cancer caregivers.
The report is informed by two virtual listening sessions held in September 2025 with more than 100 cancer caregivers nationwide. Participants shared that in their caregiving role, they were often thrust into providing complex medical tasks with little preparation, received minimal financial protections, and faced significant barriers to accessing support.
Key Takeaways:
• Caregivers described being expected to perform medical and nursing duties with little or no formal training and learning through trial and error to figure things out.
• Caregivers cited the compounded financial toll of cancer caregiving, including lost income and mounting non-medical costs that force families into impossible tradeoffs.
• Caregivers also spoke of systemic barriers, such as administrative red tape, narrow eligibility rules, and fragmented resources that limit access to existing support.
“These findings confirm what many of us already know: there is a critical gap in our nation’s health care system, and it begins with recognizing that family caregivers are far more than helpers,” said Yadira Montoya, Program Director at NAC. “Family caregivers are essential to every stage of cancer care—from managing complex treatment regimens and coordinating appointments to supporting decision making and providing daily emotional and physical care. Yet we provide them with little training, guidance, or financial protection. If we are serious about improving cancer patient outcomes and quality of life, we must formally integrate caregivers into care delivery, clinical communication, policy, and payment models.”
“Caregivers are being asked to take on more than anyone should have to manage alone,” said Alexandra Zaleta, PhD, Vice President, Research and Insights at CancerCare. “Alongside the emotional weight of cancer, they’re spending hours trying to navigate coverage rules, paperwork and financial support. At CancerCare, our work shows how these administrative barriers deepen stress and financial hardship. This report underscores the urgent need to reduce that burden and support caregivers from the very beginning.”
Urgent Priorities:
The report calls for the formal recognition of caregivers as integral members of the cancer care team, early, ongoing education and training, comprehensive financial navigation and direct financial support, reduced administrative burden and expanded eligibility for assistance programs and solutions that address social determinants of health, including language access, transportation, housing stability, and workplace protections.
The report was developed as part of NAC’s Cancer Caregiving Collaborative, a multi-sector initiative focused on healthcare integration and financial health. CancerCare, a long-standing member of the Collaborative, brings over 80 years of experience supporting people affected by cancer through emotional, practical, and financial support.
The full report is available here.
About National Alliance for Caregiving
The National Alliance for Caregiving is a catalyst for change, transforming how the United States recognizes, supports, and values the 63 million family caregivers providing complex care. Through our nationally recognized caregiving research and advocacy, we drive policy, system, and culture change to elevate family caregivers as a national priority. We foster partnerships across aging, disability, healthcare, philanthropy, and the private sector with the goal of making family caregiving more sustainable, equitable, and dignified. Learn more at caregiving.org.
About CancerCare®
For over 80 years, CancerCare has empowered millions of people affected by cancer through free counseling, support groups, educational resources, advocacy and financial assistance. Our oncology social workers improve the lives of people diagnosed with cancer, caregivers, survivors and the bereaved by addressing their emotional, practical and financial challenges. To learn more, visit www.cancercare.org.
Media Contacts:
Davisha Davis, davisha@caregiving.org
Catherine Favorite, cfavorite@cancercare.org