Family caregivers of people with cancer have been asked to assume markedly
increased duties and responsibilities as key members of the health care tea
m. To succeed in their new role, they need information that is organized to
guide problem-solving and education as well as support in how to apply an
orderly problem-solving process the same way that health care professionals
do. This article describes an education program designed to teach the prin
ciples of problem-solving to caregivers through the use of case studies, an
d it summarizes the data obtained during a preliminary evaluation of the pr
ogram.