Deutschsprachige Instrumente zur Bedarfserhebung bei Angehörigen: Eine narrative Übersicht über verfügbare Selbsteinschätzungsinstrumente zur Erfassung verschiedener Aspekte möglicher Angehörigenbedarfe

Background: Today, guideline-based care for patients with advanced cancer includes regular assessment of needs, not only for patients, but also for their family caregivers. Objectives: Identification, evaluation and short description of German validated self-assessment instruments for needs assessment of family caregivers that can be used in daily practice. Materials and methods: This narrative review is based on a syntax-based systematic literature search in PubMed (November 2021). Results: The literature search identified 525 articles dealing with needs assessment for family caregivers. A multistep, criterion-referenced process identified 12 self-assessment instruments. These 12 capture (partly) the needs of family caregivers in terms of overall burden, psychosocial burden and psychopathological symptoms, quality of life, and support needs. They are available in German, validated, practicable in daily use, and easily accessible. The instruments—including their short versions—are presented with relevant information on use, target parameters, author references, availability, and evaluation. Conclusion: This article can be helpful for practitioners wishing to implement a guideline-compliant, regular needs assessment of caregivers and to promote the provision of concrete support services. However, these instruments only cover individual aspects of possible needs of caregivers and it remains to be assessed how the 12 instruments can be combined for routine use or how a selection can be made.