Strategic and executive recommendations in the field of radiation risks for family members of thyroid cancer patients treated with radioactive iodine

Radiation safety is one of the main concerns in nuclear medicine treatments. After the discharge of thyroid cancer patients treated with radioactive iodine, the radiation exposure to family members of the patients is one of the main concerns of the patients and the society, which in some cases can cause the patient to be stigmatized and not receive the necessary care and emotional support from family and community members. Therefore, in order to reduce the side effects of this issue through the most essential strategic and executive recommendations mentioned in this policy summary, the following hint can be pointed out: training and raising the awareness of medical staff, patients, and society regarding the concepts related to ionizing radiation, permissible radiation dose, radiation hazards, principles of radiation protection, absorbed radiation dose, and factors affecting the absorbed radiation dose during therapeutic and supportive care of the patient under treatment, eliminating the influence of socio-economic factors, lifestyle and literacy level of the patient's family members on the compliance of caregivers with safety recommendations and eventually the radiation exposure to the family members of the patients.