Social support and social networks: a review of the literature.

Abstract

The diagnosis of childhood cancer invariably represents a crisis for the family unit. Multiple papers have been published since the 1960’s which describe the impact of this event on the individual and his family.&dquo; Individuals are not immune to the effects of problems experienced by other family members, nor do they generally resolve these issues independently.6 As a result all family members are a focus of concern when a child has cancer. How the family responds, and to what degree the family is able to successfully integrate the experience into their lives, may be a function of the adequacy of the family’s social network system as well as their perception of available social support. As nurses caring for these families, an understanding of the constructs of social support and social networks will allow us to focus our interventions toward maximizing an array of support for these families. This paper will address how these constructs are defined in the literature, how support has been viewed by families experiencing cancer and future research questions that are relevant to this discussion.