How calls from carers, friends and family members of someone affected by cancer differ from those made by people diagnosed with cancer; analysis of 4 years of South Australian Cancer Council Helpline data.

Caregivers represented different demographic groups than people diagnosed with cancer who called this helpline. The two groups phoned for different issues, at different stages of disease progression, displayed different levels of distress and, therefore, may benefit from services being tailored to meet their unique needs. These results also demonstrate the capacity of helplines to complement other health services and confirm that callers to cancer helplines exhibit high levels of distress.