Who talks? The social psychology of illness support groups.
TL;DR: Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease, and implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care are discussed.
Abstract: More Americans try to change their health behaviors through self-help than through all other forms of professionally designed programs. Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to participants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health, yet little is known about patterns of support group participation in health care. What kinds of illness experiences prompt patients to seek each other's company? In an effort to observe social comparison processes with real-world relevance, support group participation was measured for 20 disease categories in 4 metropolitan areas (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas) and on 2 on-line forums. Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing (e.g., AIDS, alcoholism, breast and prostate cancer) and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease. The authors discuss implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care.
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the psychosocial characteristics of first seizure clinic patients at diagnosis and follow up over 12 months, and through its evaluation of a support program for a subgroup of these patients.
Abstract: Epilepsy is a lower prevalence, episodic condition with points of initiation or remission difficult to identify. Consequently, truly representative community research samples are rare. Reliance on data from specialist centres or support groups may give an inaccurate overview of psychosocial outcomes. This thesis has addressed issues of diagnosis and management of seizure patients through its examination of psychosocial characteristics of First Seizure Clinic patients at diagnosis and follow up over 12 months, and through its evaluation of a support program for a subgroup of these patients. Such early data provide a valuable baseline for gauging the longitudinal impact of seizures and their treatment on psychosocial well-being. The inclusion of all First Seizure Clinic patients regardless of diagnosis also allowed comparisons between patients with and without seizure-related diagnoses on wellbeing measures. The use of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the support service for seizure patients was an innovative feature of the research, as was an evaluation of the Liverpool Adverse Events Profile (LAEP), a measure for side-effects of antiepileptic drugs. The study cohort (N=245) had a mean age of 36.5 (±15.9) years with two thirds male. Thirty percent of participants received a non-seizure diagnosis. After categorization as seizure, epilepsy, syncope or other, there were no demographic differences between the categories. Measures of ill-being and well-being were generally aligned and did not differ between diagnostic categories. Over time, all diagnostic groups showed significant falls in past worry and future worry, however their levels of anxiety and depression were up to twice that of the Australian community. For the RCT, only seizure / epilepsy patients were included (N=167). There were no differences between the control and intervention groups over 12 months for the eight key quantitative variables, or for satisfaction with the clinic service. However, when asked about sources of health information, and in response to qualitative investigation, the intervention group rated the support worker as the most used source, and as highly valued. The LAEP evaluation found it to be more informative when used as a repeated measure of specific symptoms than as a global score. Even so the constructs assessed by LAEP were largely reflected in measures of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were notable features of the First Seizure Clinic cohort regardless of diagnosis thereby raising the question of how best to identify and manage these conditions for all patients in such a setting. In seizure patients, the support program did not demonstrate positive effects on the key psychosocial outcomes, but likewise it did not indicate harm. Questioning of patients regarding their use and value of the service revealed a strong, positive response which, while encouraging, needs further exposition. These data and the methodology modelled provide a valuable basis for ongoing investigation of anxiety and depression…
2 citations
23 Sep 2014
TL;DR: Artikkelissa tarkastellaan eturauhassyopapotilaiden vertaistukihenkiloiden kahtalaista asemaa hoitoinstituutioiden ja yksilollisen kokemuksen valilla.
Abstract: Artikkelissa tarkastellaan eturauhassyopapotilaiden vertaistukihenkiloiden kahtalaista asemaa hoitoinstituutioiden ja yksilollisen kokemuksen valilla. Toimiminen vertaistukihenkilona perustuu omakohtaiseen kokemukseen sairaudesta, mutta samalla liittaa tukihenkilot osaksi auttamisjarjestelmaa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia kriittisen diskurssianalyysin keinoin, miten vertaistukihenkiloiden kaksoisasema ilmenee haastattelupuheessa seka kuinka asemien valisia ristiriitoja kasitellaan. Tutkimus perustuu kuuden vertaistukihenkilomiehen teemahaastatteluihin. Kaksoisasema ilmeni puhuttaessa omasta sairaudesta verrattuna tuettavien miesten sairauskokemuksiin, kasiteltaessa suhdetta hoitohenkilokuntaan seka pohdittaessa sita, miten tukihenkiloiden tietamysta eturauhassyovan hoidosta tulisi kayttaa tukihenkilotoiminnassa. Kaksoisasemaan liittyvat ristiriidat koskivat erityisesti tiedon merkitysta. Vaikka vertaistukihenkilokoulutus rajaa laaketieteellisen tiedon vertaistuen ulkopuolelle, tukihenkilot pitivat laaketieteellista tietoa vertaistukitoiminnan tarkeana edellytyksena. Vertaistukihenkiloiden kasitykset korostavat siten asiantuntijuuden kasvavaa merkitysta tukihenkilotoiminnassa.
2 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: Kolawole et al. as discussed by the authors studied the psychological impact of online health communities and found that social identification played a positive predominant role in its impact, while social support had a considerable positive impact on psychological well-being.
Abstract: Kolawole, Olatunbosun Psychological impact of online health communities Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2019, 60 pp. Information systems science, Master’s Thesis Supervisor(s): Dr. Zhang, Yixin and Dr. Rönkkö, Mikko Online Health Communities (OHCs) have become a major source of social, emotional and informational support for people with health problems. There has been much debate surrounding the potential benefits and costs of online interaction. This debate is centred on the positive and negative effects online health communities have on it users. Social network is believed to have great impact on its participants as suggested by some works of literature, thus participants feel a sense of liberation from any perceived restriction placed in real world either legally, socially or politically. Online Health communities have been able to provide support to these individuals therefore, leading to a positive impact to the individual’s psychological well-being. On the other hand, other line of literature on virtual communities suggest that online social platform can have a negative effect on the participants’ psychological well-being. Therefore, this study focuses on the psychological impact of online health communities. The constructs formulated in this study was based on several construct formulated on studies related to online health communities and psychological well-being. The construct utilized to fit the current study includes, social support, social identification, online users behaviour and the psychological flourishing scale. Internet use, education, income level, age and gender were included as control variables. This study result showed that online behaviour, social identification and social support positively impact the psychological well-being of users’ after joining the online health community. While social identification played a positive predominant role in its impact, online behaviour and social support had a considerable positive impact on psychological well-being. Out of five control variables, only age influenced psychological well-being after joining the online community. Overall, the measurement model explained 81% of variance in the impact of online health communities on psychological well-being.
2 citations
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: ........................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................
Abstract: ........................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................
2 citations
TL;DR: The identified self-help videos that addressed maintaining functional outcomes for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease varied significantly in quality, and few met accepted standards of instructional design.
Abstract: Objective:The Internet and other electronic media may provide one part of a solution for reducing disparities in the availability of medical services. From a patient-centred perspective, an individual with a chronic, degenerative condition may ask what information is available that I can use to manage changes in my functional capacity over time, and how effective is this? The purpose of this study was to assess the availability and quality of a sample of online self-help videos which address common functional problems ubiquitous among individuals living with one such condition: Parkinson’s disease.Design:Cross-sectional survey.Setting:Internet.Method:An Internet search was conducted to identify self-help videos offering instruction on how to manage changes in function, and each video was assessed using 17 factors relevant to instructional quality.Results:Of 295 videos, 14 (4.7%) provided self-help instruction for three chosen skills. The quality of instructional presentation averaged 2.75 on a 5-point sca...
2 citations
Cites background from "Who talks? The social psychology of..."
...From a service provider’s perspective, many health system planners and providers view self-help as an important supplement to medical treatment (e.g. Davison et al., 2000)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that there is a strong functional tie between opinions and abilities in humans and that the ability evaluation of an individual can be expressed as a comparison of the performance of a particular ability with other abilities.
Abstract: Hypothesis I: There exists, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities. While opinions and abilities may, at first glance, seem to be quite different things, there is a close functional tie between them. They act together in the manner in which they affect behavior. A person’s cognition (his opinions and beliefs) about the situation in which he exists and his appraisals of what he is capable of doing (his evaluation of his abilities) will together have bearing on his behavior. The holding of incorrect opinions and/or inaccurate appraisals of one’s abilities can be punishing or even fatal in many situations. It is necessary, before we proceed, to clarify the distinction between opinions and evaluations of abilities since at first glance it may seem that one’s evaluation of one’s own ability is an opinion about it. Abilities are of course manifested only through performance which is assumed to depend upon the particular ability. The clarity of the manifestation or performance can vary from instances where there is no clear ordering criterion of the ability to instances where the performance which reflects the ability can be clearly ordered. In the former case, the evaluation of the ability does function like other opinions which are not directly testable in “objective reality’. For example, a person’s evaluation of his ability to write poetry will depend to a large extent on the opinions which others have of his ability to write poetry. In cases where the criterion is unambiguous and can be clearly ordered, this furnishes an objective reality for the evaluation of one’s ability so that it depends less on the opinions of other persons and depends more on actual comparison of one’s performance with the performance of others. Thus, if a person evaluates his running ability, he will do so by comparing his time to run some distance with the times that other persons have taken. In the following pages, when we talk about evaluating an ability, we shall mean specifically the evaluation of that ability in situations where the performance is unambiguous and is known. Most situations in real life will, of course, present situations which are a mixture of opinion and ability evaluation. In a previous article (7) the author posited the existence of a drive to determine whether or not one’s opinions were “correct”. We are here stating that this same drive also produces behavior in people oriented toward obtaining an accurate appraisal of their abilities. The behavioral implication of the existence of such a drive is that we would expect to observe behaviour on the part of persons which enables them to ascertain whether or not their opinions are correct and also behavior which enables them accurately to evaluate their abilities. It is consequently
16,927 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1878
TL;DR: The Red River of the North basin of the Philippines was considered a part of the Louisiana Purchase by the United States Department of Commerce in the 1939 Census Atlas of the United Philippines as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: 1 Includes drainage basin of Red River of the North, not a part of any accession, but in the past sometimes considered a part of the Louisiana Purchase. i Includes Baker, Canton, Enderbury, Rowland, Jarvis, Johnston, and Midway Islands; and also certain other outlying islands (21 square miles). 3 Commonwealth of the Philippines, Commission of the Census; 1939 Census, Census Atlas of the Philippines. Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
10,650 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1970TL;DR: Yalom as mentioned in this paper described the course of therapy from both the patient's and the therapist's viewpoint in Encounter Groups: First Facts (1973) and Every Day gets a Little Closer: A Twice-Told Therapy (1974).
Abstract: This book first appeared in 1970 and has gone into two further editions, one in 1975 and this one in 1985. Yalom is also the author of Existential Psychotherapy (1980), In-patient Group Psychotherapy (1983), the co-author with Lieberman of Encounter Groups: First Facts (1973) and with Elkin of Every Day Gets a Little Closer: A Twice-Told Therapy (1974) (which recounts the course of therapy from the patient's and the therapist's viewpoint). The present book is the central work of the set and seems to me the most substantial. It is also one of the most readable of his works because of its straightforward style and the liberal use of clinical examples.
4,235 citations
"Who talks? The social psychology of..." refers background in this paper
...In a similar vein, Yalom (1995) has asserted that self-help groups offer a unique venue for growth, social experimentation, and change....
[...]
TL;DR: Greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness.
Abstract: The Internet could change the lives of average citizens as much as did the telephone in the early part of the 20th century and television in the 1950s and 1960s. Researchers and social critics are debating whether the Internet is improving or harming participation in community life and social relationships. This research examined the social and psychological impact of the Internet on 169 people in 73 households during their first 1 to 2 years on-line. We used longitudinal data to examine the effects of the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being. In this sample, the Internet was used extensively for communication. Nonetheless, greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness. These findings have implications for research, for public policy and for the design of technology.
4,091 citations
3,765 citations