Introduction Advance Care Planning (ACP) remains essential for patients with serious illnesses. The multicomponent program named Serious Illness Care Program (SICP) suggests two approaches of ACP, that is, individual or interprofessional. A previous study indicated the value of both approaches for improving the quality of care provided to patients with serious illnesses through increased implementation of shared decision- making. Here, we compare how they impact the care burden of family caregivers of patients with serious illnesses.

Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of a clustered randomized controlled trial from USA and Canada. We use Consort guideline to report our study. Two groups of professionals were trained in two different SICP approaches. Patients with serious illnesses cared by each group were then recruited to refer their family caregivers. We adapted a 12-item questionnaire from the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview to measure the care burden of family caregivers. We used the Palette conceptual framework to assess factors influencing this care burden. Patient partners from both USA and Canada were actively involved through steering meetings.

Results We included 192 family caregivers in our study. Most of them are female (67.7%) and live with the patient (63%). There are no statistically significant differences in the perceived level of caregiver burden between the two groups (p-value = 0.43).

Discussion The lack of statistically significant differences between the two groups could be justified by the absence of a module on family caregivers in the training. It would, therefore, be important to incorporate this aspect into healthcare professionals’ training to ensure their involvement in shared decision-making processes.

Conclusion Family caregivers play an active role in the care process of patients with serious illnesses and should be involved in decisions regarding the patient.