Qualitative descriptive study during the COVID-19 pandemic on the needs of informal caregivers of Chinese minors who underwent craniopharyngioma surgery

Purpose: To determine the needs of informal caregivers during the long-term health management of minors who have undergone craniopharyngioma surgery.Design and methodologyThis is a qualitative and descriptive research study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, and semi -structured interviews were conducted to explore the needs of 21 informal caregivers for postoperative minors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the respondents were provided with the options of online video call or offline one-on-one interviews. Following this, a content analysis method was conducted.Results: Four themes and 14 sub-themes were extracted from the results of the study, including needs for reliev-ing psychological stress (including psychological pressure on both minors and on caregivers); requirement for on-campus assistance (physical activity, eliminating verbal violence in schools, special education needs for child, healthcare services provided by school hospitals); demands for medical help (acquiring medical knowl-edge, need for medication management, convenience and reliable access to medical services, need for technolog-ical development, expectations of multidisciplinary cooperation, the necessity of health review reminders); and the desire for financial aid (charity platform assistance, inclination of government policy).Conclusions: In China, informal caregivers of young patients with onset craniopharyngioma require both the mul-tidisciplinary cooperation of medical institutions and the multi-departmental cooperation of society. Information and medical technology advancements may benefit families with young patients. Improving community hospi-tals' medical services and encouraging the practical use of online medical treatment and prescriptions are both necessary in the context of COVID-19.Practice implications: By identifying the needs of informal caregivers, medical professionals are able to develop care plans and interventions aimed at reducing the burden of care for minors who have undergone craniopharyngioma surgery.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.