Social Support Resources Research Articles

The relationship between community integration and mental health recovery in people with mental health issues living in the community: A quantitative study

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Mental health treatments have become patient-centred. Evaluating recovery in people with mental health difficulties living in the community can help to develop better client-centred services. Community integration is critical to recovery in patients with mental health difficulties. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This is the first study to use a single integrated measure of mental health recovery to evaluate the effect of community integration. Physical community integration was the easiest goal for most to reach. Developing independence/self-actualization was harder. In mental health recovery, most people were able to overcome stuckness. Developing abilities for basic functioning was harder. Participating in mental health centre day programmes promoted mental health recovery in people with mental health difficulties living in the community. Independence/self-actualization, psychological integration and social support improved mental health recovery in people with mental health difficulties living in the community. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: There is a need to develop and actively promote programmes that attract people with mental health difficulties living in the community so that they will actively use mental health centre services. Offering systematic social skills training and occupational rehabilitation therapy to people with mental health difficulties living in the community may help them function independently. Mental health service programmes should provide volunteer opportunities for people with mental health difficulties living in the community to facilitate a sense of belonging. Mental health nurses should serve as a social support resource for people with mental health difficulties living in the community by providing education to family and friends on how to support patients' recovery, and invigorating integration projects such as "making healthy friends." Abstract Introduction Although community integration of people with mental health difficulties and a consumer-centred recovery paradigm are of global importance, little research has been conducted on community integration factors that directly affect mental health recovery. Aim This study investigated the relationship between community integration and mental health recovery in people with mental health difficulties living in the community in South Korea. Method Data were collected from 155 people with mental health difficulties living in the community, using the Self-Reporting Scale of Community Integration and the Mental Health Recovery Measure (Korean version), and analysed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results Among the community integration subscales, independence/self-actualization, psychological integration and social support were significant factors in mental health recovery, explaining 47.3% of the variance. Discussion An effective intervention strategy for mental health recovery of people with mental health difficulties living in the community may reinforce community integration by carefully considering independence/self-actualization, psychological integration and social support. Implications for practice Mental health nurses should provide intervention to people with mental health difficulties living in the community to help them develop strategies for functioning independently, experiencing a sense of achievement and developing a sense belonging in the community.

The Career Stories of LGB-Q in Turkey

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to delineate the career stories of LGB-Q in Turkey. The research questions looked at here are as follows: (1) What are their childhood career aspirations? (2) What are the important features that they care about at workplace? (3) How does their gender orientation impact their career development? (4) What kind of social support resources do they have according to which stages are they at the coming out process? (5) What are their future career aspirations? (6) What are their career needs? To this end, life story inquiry, a qualitative data analysis method, was used in this study. A total of seven LGB-Q people participated in the study. The study revealed that participants’ sexual orientation is influential in their career development, that LGB-Q people do not openly live their identities in Turkey and that they are faced with many pressures of society.

Internal and external resources, tiredness and the subjective well-being of family caregivers of older adults: a case study from western Thailand, Southeast Asia.

This study examined the effects of several aspects of care-giving on the subjective well-being (SWB) of family caregivers of older adults. These aspects were comprised of external resources including social support, affection, and internal resources including confidence, positive appraisal and coping strategies, and tiredness. The level of happiness (0-10) was used as the gauge of SWB. The data were from a cross-sectional study of 270 primary family caregivers in western Thailand. Multiple regression models controlling for age, gender, kinship to care for recipients, self-rated health, duration and hours of care-giving were estimated. Both social support in terms of appreciation and admiration for care-giving, as opposed to such care being considered a caregivers' duty, as well as inner strength derived from a positive attitude and self-perceived ability in care-giving were positively associated with SWB. Tiredness had a significant negative association with SWB. The implications of these findings for policy and intervention programs are discussed.

Personal and Social Resources at Work: Reciprocal Relations Between Crafting for Social Job Resources, Social Support at Work and Psychological Capital.

The availability and development of social and personal resources are substantial components of a positive work experience. This study aims to inquire the reciprocal relations between the personal resource of psychological capital (PsyCap; hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) and the social job resource of social support, as proposed in the job demands-resources theory. There, job crafting is defined as a catalysator to the interplay of social support and PsyCap and is therefore added to this study. Moreover, we test the enabling hypothesis of social support in the context of work. We contribute to the field, as this research (a) examines propositions of a core theory, (b) adds and extends relevant hypotheses from health psychology into occupational psychology, and (c) aims to replicate findings. To capture the dynamic nature of the selected, relevant relationships of the job demands-resources theory, we used a three-wave, 3-month panel design to study 995 employees who were working in a broad range of economic sectors and occupations. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Results showed, that social support at work positively influenced the development of PsyCap, supporting and extending the enabling hypothesis of self-efficacy. Counterintuitively, PsyCap and crafting for social job resources were negatively related, indicating (a) that the reliance on personal resources might reduce the necessity to generate social resources, and (b) that crafting is a strategy that consumes personal resources. Previously observed gain cycles were not replicable.

The role of team-member exchange: Restaurant servers’ emotional intelligence, job performance, and tip size

With its roots in the social support resource and social exchange theories, this study examines how team-member exchange (TMX) mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and job performance, eventually increasing restaurant servers’ tip size. The participants were 273 non-managerial servers working at full-service restaurants in the U.S. Results revealed that (1) TMX partially mediated the relationship between EI and job performance. In addition, (2) job performance was positively correlated with tip size. Theoretical and practical implications as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

Teenagers Who Coexist With Cancer: Chemotherapy Body and Self-integration.

The experiences of teenagers with cancer are related to falling ill, receiving treatment, and the way they exist in the world. The understanding of the meaning of teenagers coexisting with cancer must be placed in the social context with the teenagers at the core. By using an interpretive ethnographic research method, this study applied the body perception view of Merleau-Ponty to how teenagers with cancer understand self through the body in a social and cultural context. Participant observation and individual semistructured interviews of 18 teenagers diagnosed with cancer were conducted over a 20-month period. The illness experience of teenagers undergoing chemotherapy was described as self-integration. Five themes emerged: boundary ambiguity of body, medical equipment as part of the body, confined body space, from self-dissociation toward self-integration, and healing power formed by self and others. In the face of the adjustments of body disorder, the teenagers with cancer initiated motility of the body, self-displacement, and integration in order to regain control of the body. The provision of correct disease knowledge to strengthen teenagers' understanding and their sense of mastery of their bodies throughout the participation in their cancer treatment is essential. Discussions on making decisions, self-management, and social identification are related to the relationship between body and self as well as between healthcare and otherness. Providing culture and social sensitivity support systems and resources to teenagers and families can strengthen them to face the disease and promote positive healing.

Conceptualizing caregiver workload: an exploratory study guided by NASA TLX

Persons with dementia (PwD) are heavily dependent on the support of informal, dementia caregivers to fulfill their day-to-day care needs. Dementia caregivers, often friends and family members of the PwD, are unpaid, non-professional individuals who take on many of the care responsibilities. Due to the lack of formal training, social support, and information resources, among other factors, dementia caregivers are often at risk for negative outcomes such as stress and burden. There have not been any comprehensive assessment tools to predict these negative outcomes. Therefore, we employ the NASA TLX dimensions to conceptualize caregiver workload. This study operationalizes the NASA TLX dimensions in the context of dementia caregiving and illustrates examples for each of the dimensions. The results indicate that the NASA TLX does not include all of the factors necessary to conceptualize caregiver workload and prescribe a need for developing a robust caregiver workload assessment tool.

2.60 PREDICTORS OF ANXIETY LEVELS IN PARENTS AND/OR PRIMARY CAREGIVERS WITH CHILDREN ADMITTED TO A PEDIATRIC UNIT

Complications in pediatric health are one of the biggest concerns facing parents and/or primary caregivers of children. When children become ill and their health becomes so complicated that hospitalization is required, parents and family members face a lot of concerns. Likewise, these concerns can alter the functioning of the family system, depending on the family's ability to cope with them. This study aims to determine the anxiety levels or symptoms presented in parents and/or primary caregivers of children admitted to a pediatric unit in 2 hospitals of Puerto Rico. This study also aims to determine which one or more of the following factors—financial situation, social support resources, and/or course or diagnosis of their child’s disease—is a predictor of the development of anxiety symptoms.

Depression in Latina mothers: Examining the roles of acculturation, enculturation, social support, and family resources.

Previous findings on the relationship between acculturation and depression have been mixed, such that acculturation has been demonstrated as a protective factor, risk factor, and neutral factor for depressive symptomology. The current study sought to clarify this association by examining the roles of acculturation and enculturation (retention of traditional values and practices) on depression while incorporating contextual variables such as social support and resource adequacy. This study utilized archived data from 308 Latina mothers who participated in a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of a home-based child maltreatment prevention model that was culturally adapted for a midwestern Latino/a community. Findings from this study suggest that although enculturation was negatively associated with depression, this impact was no longer significant when multiple factors were examined. Rather, increased family resources and social support were related to fewer depressive symptoms. Furthermore, social support and family resources both demonstrated mediating roles between the relation of acculturation and depression. Family resources also mediated the relation between enculturation and depression. Findings highlight the importance of assessing access to resources and interpersonal connections when working with Latina mothers experiencing depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A transformative value co-creation framework for online services

PurposeOnline offerings for transformative services create value for consumers, although little research examines the process through which these services deliver this value. The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework to capture the complexity of the co-creation of transformative value experienced by the consumers of online transformative services.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a netnography approach to examine longitudinal data from an online weight management program. In total, this research examines 15,304 posts from 3,149 users, including eight staff users.FindingsConsumers integrate a range of social support resources, from informational support to esteem support, which provide a range of benefits such as new ideas and self-efficacy that underpin the different types of value such as epistemic and personal value. The degree of co-created value differs across the consumption experience but culminates over time into transformative value.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework may be useful beyond the weight management and online contexts; however, further work is required in a range of behavioral contexts and other modes of service delivery.Practical implicationsBy understanding the resources consumers integrate and value, co-created services can develop appropriate value propositions to assist in improving consumers’ well-being.Originality/valueThis research provides a comprehensive framework of the transformative value co-creation process, extending on existing frameworks which examine either the process, value co-creation or the types of value co-created.

Time to move? Factors associated with burden of care among informal caregivers of cognitively impaired older people facing housing decisions: secondary analysis of a cluster randomized trial

BackgroundMaking health-related decisions about loved ones with cognitive impairment may contribute to caregiver burden of care. We sought to explore factors associated with burden of care among informal caregivers who had made housing decisions on behalf of a cognitively impaired older person.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis within a cluster randomized trial (cRT) conducted in 16 publicly-funded home care service points across the Province of Quebec. The cRT assessed the impact of training home care teams in interprofessional shared decision making (IP-SDM). We assessed burden of care with the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) scale. We adapted Pallett’s framework to inform our data analysis. This framework posits that factors influencing burden of care among caregivers fall within four domains: (a) characteristics of the caregiver, (b) characteristics of the cognitively impaired older person, (c) characteristics of the relationship between the caregiver and the cognitively impaired older person, and (d) the caregiver’s perception of their social support resources. We computed the ZBI score and performed multilevel linear regression modelling.ResultsAmong 296 caregivers included in the dataset, the mean ZBI score was 29.8 (SD = 17.5) out of 88. The typical participant was 62.6 years old (SD = 11.7), female (74.7%), and caring for a mother or father (61.2%). Using multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with caregiver burden mapped onto: caregiver characteristics (caregivers with higher burden were female, experienced higher decision regret and decisional conflict, preferred that their loved one move into the caregiver’s home, into a private nursing home or a mixed private-public nursing home, and had made the decision more recently); relationship characteristics (spouses and children experienced higher burden); and caregiver’s perception of social support resources (caregivers who perceived that a joint decision making process had occurred had higher burden).ConclusionIn line with the proposed framework used, we found that caregiver characteristics, relationship characteristics and caregiver’s perception of social support resources were associated with burden of care. Our results will help design interventions to prevent and/or reduce caregivers’ burden of care.Trial registrationNCT02244359. Date of registration: September 18, 2014.

Self-management experience of patients with schizophrenia: a qualitative study

Objective To explore the process and experience of self-management among patients with schizophrenia by interview so as to provide examples and inspirations for clinical nursing and improving self-management among patients with schizophrenia. Methods From February to April 2018, we collected information in 14 schizophrenia outpatients at a ClassⅢ Grade A psychiatric hospital in Beijing by semi-structured depth interview. The information was analyzed and summarized with the method of content analysis. Results The interview results were divided into two aspects. On the one hand, the cognition of schizophrenia patients on self-management limited the self-management ability development of patients including lack of knowledge on self-management and family dysfunction. On the other hand, the experience of self-management also limited the ability involving lack of symptom management ability, skills and knowledge on treatment management, poor emotion management, low daily life management initiative, poor interpersonal management and inadequate social support resource use. Conclusions Medical staff should actively understand the self-management of schizophrenia patients, strengthen training and education so as to improve disease self-management and promote recovery from disease. Key words: Schizophrenia; Self-management; Experience; Qualitative research

Who cares? Uncovering social Support Needs and Resources of malignant CNS Tumor Patients and their informal Caregivers

The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 5.120 (2020 JCR, received in June 2021)

Social support and monetary resources as protective factors against food insecurity among older Americans: findings from a health and retirement study

We examined the association between social support, monetary resources, and food insecurity among a nationally representative sample of older Americans. Analyses included 1164 Americans aged 65 and above from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study and the 2013 Health Care and Nutrition Study. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the likelihood of food insecurity as a function of social support (including social contact, emotional support, and social strain), monetary resources (including household income and household assets), and covariates. We found older adults with greater social strain and lower emotional support were at increased risk of food insecurity. Greater monetary resources were associated with lower risk of food insecurity. Select indicators of social support appeared to moderate the effect of monetary resources on food insecurity, with increasing social strain reducing the protective benefits of greater household assets, and low emotional support reducing the protective effect of increased household income to non-significance. Emotional support and social strain are aspects of social relationships that may play important roles in the relationship between monetary resources and food insecurity. Interventions seeking to reduce the burden of food insecurity should consider the quality and quantity of social relationships as potential risk factors.

Towards ending the US HIV epidemic by 2030: Understanding social determinants of health and HIV in Mississippi

ABSTRACTThe disproportionate burden of HIV-related inequities borne by African Americans in the US South amplifies the role of social determinants of health (SDH) in shaping social patterning of illness. Despite some attention, SDH remain overlooked in a biomedically oriented, federal HIV policy. Mississippi is the poorest state with the worst HIV outcomes, nationally. Using qualitative methods, we investigated how primarily African American, HIV-positive Mississippians experienced SDH and health inequities in their daily lives. Employing grounded theory and in-depth interviews (n = 25) in an urban and rural site in 2015 yielded these findings: (1) absence of an enabling structural environment; (a) HIV-stigma constructed via social discourse; (b) lack of psycho-social support and HIV education; (c) insufficient economic and social support resources; and (2) presence of family support for coping. Due to stigma, being HIV-positive seemed to lead to further status loss; diminished social position; reduced life chances; and contractions in particular freedoms. Stigma further compounded existing inequalities – contributing to the moral, social experience of those living with HIV. Trump’s plan to end HIV by 2030 creates the opportunity to rethink the biomedical-paradigm and fully engage SDH – using social science theory and methods that address multi-level social determinants in ways that are also policy-responsive.

Exploring the psychiatric and social risk factors contributing to suicidal behaviors in religious young adults

The religion-suicide relationship is complex, and evidence of the role of religion in suicidal behaviors is inconsistent. This cross-sectional study aims to explore suicidal ideation and attempts among Modern Orthodox Jews and to examine the risk factors for suicidality in the presence of religious practice and affiliation, help-seeking behaviors, and social support. 321 young adults aged 18 to 36 completed self-report questionnaires assessing religious commitment and perception of religion as important, suicidal risk, depression, somatic symptoms, alcohol misuse, social support, and help-seeking patterns. The past 12-month suicide ideation prevalence was 8.7%. 14% of the sample were at risk for suicide. Those at a higher risk for suicide were less involved in religious practices and perceived religion as less important. In addition, depressive symptoms and alcohol misuse at a younger age presented the highest correlation with suicidal risk. The high rate of suicidal ideation among Modern Orthodox young adults highlights their vulnerability in the face of a lack of social support and mental health resources. Due to the limitations inherent in a convenience sampling, i.e., limited generalizability, this study may represent an underestimation of a risk for suicide amongst Modern Orthodox adults.

Examining the role of friendship for employee well-being

Sustaining high-quality experiences across multiple life roles is essential for well-being. While this has long been acknowledged in the work-nonwork literature, research to date has focused primarily on experiences in work and family roles. Responding to calls to better understand how roles beyond work and family impact employee well-being, we seek to highlight the role of supportive friendships. Drawing on Social Support Resources Theory, we suggest that supportive friendships influence general well-being via self-esteem, a key personal resource. We argue that supportive friendships should enhance self-esteem and subsequently well-being because of the voluntary nature of friendship and the unique support that friends provide. In Study 1, we examine the extent to which supportive friendships contribute to employees' general well-being via self-esteem, controlling for the effects of supportive marital and family relationships, finding that supportive friendships have unique effects. In Study 2, building on these findings, we propose and test an expanded model in which we: (1) differentiate between support from work-based and nonwork friends, (2) examine organization-based self-esteem in addition to general self-esteem as mediating variables, and (3) consider the role of supportive friendships for both general and work-related well-being. We find that supportive nonwork friends influence both general and work-related well-being, while supportive work friends are primarily important for well-being at work. The present studies are the first to consider the effects of both work and nonwork friends on well-being and to test a mechanism for such effects.

Teacher Efficacy, Collective Self-Esteem, and Organizational Commitment of Childcare Teachers: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Support.

This study explored the moderated mediation model from the viewpoint of whether the job resource of social support can reinforce relationships among teacher efficacy, collective self-esteem, and organizational commitment based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. A sample of 212 childcare teachers completed a self-report battery that included measures of teacher efficacy, collective self-esteem, organizational commitment, and social support. The results indicated that collective self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between teacher efficacy and organizational commitment. The findings also demonstrated that teacher efficacy translated into a higher organizational commitment among teachers that perceive relatively higher degrees of social support in both the indirect effect through collective self-esteem and the direct effect without collective self-esteem. The study highlights the need to establish public childcare policies that are conducive to increasing social support for teachers. Based on these results, the benefits of understanding this moderated mediation path, the limitations of the study, and future research directions are discussed.

Needs assessment for sexual health support following cancer diagnosis.

e23071 Background: Women report distress over relationships, body image and sexual function after cancer; those < 50 have a 3-times greater risk of sexual dysfunction following treatment. Survivors desire integrated and multifaceted interventions to maintain optimal sexual health. Methods: We employed a mixed-method (concurrent nested) design to identify women’s need for sexual health support after diagnosis. Women 18-50 years old were recruited at a national conference for young survivors and local breast/gynecologic clinics. Qualitative and quantitative assessments identified sexual health factors and support needs most prevalent. Summary statistics and theme analysis using grounded theory was conducted. Results: Participants included 128 women (mean diagnosis age 35.6) and were: married (71%), breast cancer (46%), mastectomy (40%), hysterectomy (30%), chemotherapy (81%), radiation (51%) and completed treatment (67%). Nearly 1/3 of women reported their relationship worsening, 97% contribute it to less sexual activity; 71% were unsatisfied with their sexual relationship compared to before diagnosis. Women (77%) feel their oncologist should discuss sexual health and 74% prefer information prior to treatment. When asked to identify resources 82% desired helpful products/strategies; other desired resources include: written education (65%), medications/lubricants (68%), personal counseling (37%), sex therapist (41%) and local/web-based support groups (36%). When asked to describe their experience with sexual health women reported the following themes: supportive partners, sexual health status, guilt, stolen identity, loss of desire, isolation, treatment side effects, menopause, vaginal changes, maintaining relationships, coping mechanisms, fertility, self-image, grief, intimacy, and desire for oncologist support. Conclusions: Sexual health support after diagnosis is an unmet need that can be integrated into treatment to greatly improve the quality of life for survivors. Women desire their oncologist to provide information before treatment and through survivorship on products/strategies, education, and medications/lubricants to maintain sexual function. Young women do not desire social support resources.

Understanding differences in the long-term psychosocial adjustment of pediatric cancer patients and their parents: an individual differences resources model.

The experience of childhood cancer is a major life stressor for children and their parents. There is substantial variability among pediatric cancer patients and their parents in their ability to cope with the cancer. Although other models typically focus on the psychological resources families use to broadly cope with a diagnosis of pediatric cancer, we present a model that focuses specifically how parents and children cope with the stress of invasive and often painful treatment episodes. Our resources model is further distinct with its focus on individual differences in personal (e.g., personality traits) and social (e.g., social support) resources and the role these differences may play in psychosocial adjustment of families confronting pediatric cancer. We use findings from the broader pediatric cancer research literature and our own 15-year program of research on individual differences in psychological resources and parents and children's responses to treatment episodes to provide empirical support for our model. Support was found for the six premises of the model: (a) parent resources influence their longer-term psychosocial adjustment, (b) parent resources influence children's responses to treatment episodes, (c) parent resources indirectly influence their longer-term psychosocial adjustment through their responses to treatment episodes, (d) children's personal resources influence how parent responses to treatment episodes, (e) children's resources influence their longer-term psychosocial adjustment, and (f) children's resources indirectly influence their longer-term psychosocial adjustment through their responses to treatment episodes. Understanding how the availability of resources influences parents and children confronting cancer provides a foundation for future research on individual differences in resources and offers other avenues through which clinicians can assess and treat families at risk for poor psychosocial adjustment during treatment and in their life beyond cancer treatments.