Mother–child dyad support needs to be expressed by mothers diagnosed with breast cancer

Aims and objectives To investigate the support needs identified by Taiwanese breast cancer diagnosed mothers for themselves and their 6–12‐year‐old children for implementation in a support group. Background Mothers with dependent children are burdened with diverse child‐centered concerns while battling breast cancer. A better understanding of the concomitant support needs of mothers and their children can yield tailored support for ill mothers and their children. Design A qualitative descriptive study employing content analysis of collected data. Methods Between February and June of 2020, semi‐structured individual interviews were conducted with 20 mothers who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last 2 years. Qualitative content analysis was used. This study followed the COREQ guidelines. Results Ill mothers favoured a hybrid format for support groups, consisting of mother‐only, child‐only, and mother–child group sessions. The content analysis yielded four themes for mother‐only group sessions: (1) learning to reach out to children; (2) dealing with negative emotions; (3) how to say goodbye to children; and (4) resetting for the future. Three themes related to child‐only group sessions emerged: (1) emotional and health education; (2) getting along with a sick mother; and (3) preparing for uncertainty. The core theme for mother–child group sessions was relationship enhancement. Conclusion The findings revealed that mother‐reported support needs of ill mothers and their children included support for improving children's emotional well‐being and mothers' emotional coping, preparing for uncertainty, and promoting intimacy in the mother–child relationship. Relevance to clinical practice A relation‐focused approach to psychosocial support group development that allows mother–child mutual influences on each other's coping to be addressed bilaterally is suggested. Patient or public contribution Mothers diagnosed with breast cancer were interviewed for data collection and invited to review and validate the synthesised data for enhancing the credibility of the study.