Need of psychological support and assessment of quality of life of family caregivers of children with cancer

Abstract

Children’s cancer is a public health problem in Mexico. This disease is also cause of distress and psychosocial problems for the patient, as well as their primary caregiver. The family is the first circle of support for a patient, therefore, if their needs are unmet, the infant’s health and wellbeing will suffer in turn. The purpose of this investigation project was to evaluate supportive needs (SN) and quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers (FCs) of pediatric cancer patients. Method: This investigation’s design was correlational and non-experimental. The study’s participants were 100 FCs for pediatric cancer patients currently hospitalized at the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City, the majority were women and mothers of the patients. Results: The results showed that facing the worries about the future, emotional needs, as well as information needs were the most unsatisfied SN’s. The one with least urgency to solve was the patients access and medical continuity needs. Proper emotional, physical and social function were the most affected areas of their quality of life. On the other hand, the family relationship of the family impact domain was one of the less affected. Furthermore, intro multiple regression showed that unmet needs relating to information and emotions, in addition to worries, daily activities and family relationships explained 74% of the variance in QOL. Conclusion: It is advised that detection of needs, evaluation of quality of life, psychological support and the implementation of psychoeducational interventions be integrated into routine clinical attention in this population.