Providing support to relatives and friends managing both chronic physical illness and depression: The views of a national sample of U.S. adults

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe how comorbid depression in chronically ill adults affects the willingness of their family and friends to provide them with illness management support. MethodsWe identified a national sample of U.S. adults (n=1027), all of whom had a close relative or friend with a chronic physical illness. We examined whether respondents were less willing to help their relatives/friends with disease management when they reported that these relatives/friends were also diagnosed with depression. ResultsIn multivariate models, the odds of respondents being willing to provide disease-management support doubled when the relative/friend was depressed (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.99; 95% C.I.=1.31, 3.02). Respondents were willing to perform an equal number of illness support tasks for relatives/friends with and without depression. However, respondents reported 30% more difficulties discussing health issues (incidence rate ratio (IRR)=1.30; 95% C.I.=1.11, 1.53), and 44% more barriers to providing support (IRR=1.44; 95% C.I.=1.18, 1.75) to depressed relatives/friends. ConclusionU.S. adults are more willing to provide disease-management support for chronically ill relatives/friends with depression. However, helping depressed relatives/friends is also more challenging. Practice implicationsBy providing resources for potential supporters, health providers could mobilize an important source of disease-management support for patients with chronic illness and depression.