What do Cancer Support Groups Provide Which Other Supportive Relationships do not ? The Experience of Peer Support Groups for People with Cancer  

Oleh:

Ussher, Jane ; Kirsten, Laura ; Butow, Phyllis ; Sandoval, Mirjana

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Social Science & Medicine (www.elsevier.com/locate/sosscimed) vol. 62 no. 10 (May 2006), page 2565-2576.
Topik: CANCER; cancer peer support groups; positioning theory; empowerment and agency; australia; social support

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: SS53.4 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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This qualitative study examined the questions of what cancer support groups provide that other supportive relationships do not, and what the self perceived consequences are of support group attendance. Nine representative australian cancer peer support groups, consisting of a total of 93 interviews, 75 women, and 18 men, with a mean age of 62, took part in participant observation and focus group interviews, with the data analysed using positioning theory. Support groups were positioned by participants as providing a unique sense of community, unconditional acceptance and inforamtion about cancer and its trearment, in contrast to the isolation, rejection, and lack of knowledge about cancer frequently experienced outside the group. Groups were also positiond as occasionally emotionally challenging, in contrast to the experience of normalising support from family and friends. Increased empowerment and agency were positioned as the most significant consequences of group support, consisting of increeased confidence and a sense of control in relation to self, living with cancerm and interactions with others, in aprticular the medical professioN. The support group was also positiobed as facilitating positive relationships with family and friends because of relieving their burfrn of care, by providing a safe space for the ecpression of e,otiom/ No difference was found between professionally led and peer led support groupd, suggesting that it is not the profeddional backgroung of the leader which is of importance, but whether the group provides a supportive environment, mutuality and a sense of belonging, and whether it meets the perceived needs of those attending. It is suggested thatr future research should examine the constructiona nd experience of social support in those who drop out of or who do not attend, cancer support grpoups, in order to provide further insight into the contrast between social support within groups and support in other contexts.

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