ReviewBMC health services research2026
Family-centered care for cancer patients and their families in developing countries: an integrative review.
Review in BMC health services research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCancer is a major and growing challenge in developing countries, where limited resources contribute to poor outcomes to patients and families. Family-centered care, which considers both cancer patients and their families as the central focus of care, has been shown to improve the health of cancer patients and their family caregivers. However, the existing evidence is primarily concentrated in high-income settings, and comprehensive data about family-centered cancer care in developing countries is lacking. Therefore, this review was conducted to synthesize the existing evidence on family-centered cancer care in low- and middle-income countries.
methodsA comprehensive review was conducted using an integrative design. Relevant articles were searched in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Epistemonikos, the Cochrane Library, African Journals Online, and CINAHL. Data were extracted into a standardized data extraction form, and a narrative synthesis was employed to integrate and present the findings. Protocol registration number: CRD42025639842.
resultsOut of 336 identified records, 18 articles involving 2,373 participants were included in this review. Despite its limited implementation in low- and middle-income countries, family-centered care was associated with improvements in quality of life, psychosocial health, emotional wellbeing, lifestyle, social interaction, and functional status, and with a reduction in symptom burden among cancer patients. It also enhances quality of life and mental wellbeing, while reducing the caregiving burden among family caregivers.
conclusionFindings of this review underscore the beneficial effects of family-centered care in enhancing health outcomes for cancer patients and their family caregivers. However, its application remains significantly low in developing countries. Moreover, there is also a lack of a uniform definition and implementation strategy for family-centered care approach. Therefore, future research should focus on developing context-specific and culturally appropriate family-centered care models that can be effectively integrated into existing healthcare systems in developing countries. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.