Table 2.

Summaries of included studies’ key findings (studies published before 2011)

Author Year	Objectives (aspects investigated)	Study design	Pop	Outcomes					Key findings: (a) Financial well-being, (b) Benefits/Welfare, (c) Mental health, (d) Employment, (e) HRQoL
				a	b	c	d	e
Bodkin 198212	Financial problems and hardship	Quan	C	x	x				a. Severe financial problems due to increased expenditure and loss of income b. Many families received financial help toward travel, special food, and heating from charitable sources. Most did not qualify for State benefits
Rozmovits 200332	Information needs	Qual	P			x			c. Worries about loss of income
Chapple 200413	Financial concerns, perceptions, and experiences with lung cancer	Qual	P		x				b. Unaware of financial benefits or lack of information on how to claim one. Stigma in claiming financial help.
Eiser 200636	Costs of caring for a child with cancer; impact on parents’ income and the contribution of government benefits and charities	Quan	C	x	x	x			a. Changes in employment impacted negatively on finances of 42.7% families. Parents were forced to give up paid employment (34.7% mothers & 1.7% fathers), reduce working hours (28.7% mothers and 37.3% fathers) or changed employment (2% mothers and 1.7% fathers) b. Benefits were not received timely c. 68.3% families were worried about money. Lone parents had more financial concerns than parents who were married/cohabiting
Hanratty 200728	Existence and consequences of financial stress and strain at the end of life for people dying with cancer	Sys rev		x	x				a. 16% to 80% claimed that they need more financial help. Differences among sociodemographic groups: 32% working class versus 16% middle class; 80% of the black carers versus 26% of the white carers b. 26% to 55% received attendance allowance
Kennedy 200729	Factors that influence decisions to return to work and the experience of returning to work for cancer survivors	Qual	S				x		d. Primary reason (50%) for returning to work is financial pressure of being off work
Amir 200821	How people have returned to the world of work	Qual	S	x	x		x		a. Built up significant debts on credit cards or fell behind with mortgage payments b. Dissatisfy with the financial protection for sick workers in the social welfare context of the UK c. Return to work earlier due to acute financial pressure
Moffatt 201014	Impact of a welfare rights advice service specifically designed for people affected by cancer and their carers in County Durham, Northeast England (UK)	Qual	P + C	x	x	x			a. Most of the participants experienced financial strain following their cancer diagnosis. No financial impact was reported from households where a working partner earned a high income and/or the individual was well covered by private health insurance and/or mortgage protection. Financial impact was more severe for those of working age, especially those were self-employed b. Successful benefit claims was used to offset additional costs associated with cancer and lessen the impact of loss of earnings. Main barrier to access benefits was lack of knowledge about benefit entitlements c. Additional stress due to money worry. Quoted: ‘if you’ve got money worries it brings you down a little bit further’, ‘It’s a hard enough worry cancer itself, without having to worry about money as well’

Study design—Mixed: Mixed methods, Qual: Qualitative research, Quan: Quantitative data, Rev: Narrative review, Sys rev: Systematic review.

Pop: Studies population—C: Carers/family members, P: Patients, S: Survivors.