Enhancing the role of carers in the outpatient chemotherapy setting: a participatory action research project Executive Summary

Acknowledgments This study was undertaken at the chemotherapy unit at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The research was made possible through a grant from Dimbleby Cancer Care and the generosity of carers who participated in the study in various ways through sharing their stories, and through both developing and testing the intervention. Without their support this research would not have been possible. We would like to acknowledge the support of nurses at the chemotherapy unit at Guys' and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and thank them for their much valued assistance with recruitment and facilitation of the carer support sessions and to other staff members who contributed to the 'Take Care' support package. In particular, we would like to thank Mairead Griffin, Head of Nursing and Lead Cancer Nurse and Michael Flynn, Chemotherapy Nurse Consultant for their continued support. We also thank Catherine Dale, Programme Manager for patient centred care, King's Health Partners for facilitating the co-design events for carers and staff and for providing group facilitation training to nurses for this study. Finally, to our carer advisory group-Sue Berry, Ginny Fuller and John Bather-who were consulted on all aspects of the study.