The role of social networks in the self-management support for young women recently diagnosed with breast cancer
The role of social networks in the self-management support for young women recently diagnosed with breast cancer
It is widely acknowledged that social network support plays an important role in the quality of life and illness management of breast cancer survivors. However, the factors and processes that enable and sustain such support are less well understood. This paper reports baseline findings from a prospective UK national cohort of 1,202 women with breast cancer (aged <50 years at diagnosis), recruited before starting treatment, conducted in 2016–2019. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate regression analyses explored associations between the individual, and network member characteristics, and the type of support provided. Social network members provided a substantial level of illness-related, practical and emotional support. Highest contribution was provided by friends, followed by close family members. The social network members of women who did not have a partner provided a higher level of support than those in networks with a partner. Women without higher education were more reliant on close family members than those with higher education, and this was more so for women without a partner. Women with higher education without a partner were more reliant on friends and were overall best supported. Women without higher education who did not have a partner were overall least well supported. They had much smaller networks, were highly reliant on close family members, and on high level contributions from all network members. There is a need to develop network-based interventions to support people with a cancer diagnosis, prioritising support for the groups identified as most at risk. Interventions that support engagement with existing network members during treatment, and those that help extend such networks after treatment, are likely to be of benefit. A network perspective can help to develop tailored support and interventions by recognising the interactions between network and individual level processes.
e0282183
Vassilev, Ivaylo
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Lin, Sharon Xiaowen
413ac51f-0097-4056-8572-0f3a09b8e33c
Calman, Lynn
9ae254eb-74a7-4906-9eb4-62ad99f058c1
Turner, Josh
e3c261ca-c84a-465c-8f61-79b0ac08c081
Frankland, Jane
94f07ae3-6361-4572-b716-6fdc4ba3c75a
Wright, David
4c41f7fe-3396-4795-8fea-129537239c0a
Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
13 April 2023
Vassilev, Ivaylo
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Lin, Sharon Xiaowen
413ac51f-0097-4056-8572-0f3a09b8e33c
Calman, Lynn
9ae254eb-74a7-4906-9eb4-62ad99f058c1
Turner, Josh
e3c261ca-c84a-465c-8f61-79b0ac08c081
Frankland, Jane
94f07ae3-6361-4572-b716-6fdc4ba3c75a
Wright, David
4c41f7fe-3396-4795-8fea-129537239c0a
Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
Vassilev, Ivaylo, Lin, Sharon Xiaowen, Calman, Lynn, Turner, Josh, Frankland, Jane, Wright, David and Foster, Claire
(2023)
The role of social networks in the self-management support for young women recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
PLoS ONE, 18 (4), , [e0282183].
(doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0282183).
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged that social network support plays an important role in the quality of life and illness management of breast cancer survivors. However, the factors and processes that enable and sustain such support are less well understood. This paper reports baseline findings from a prospective UK national cohort of 1,202 women with breast cancer (aged <50 years at diagnosis), recruited before starting treatment, conducted in 2016–2019. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate regression analyses explored associations between the individual, and network member characteristics, and the type of support provided. Social network members provided a substantial level of illness-related, practical and emotional support. Highest contribution was provided by friends, followed by close family members. The social network members of women who did not have a partner provided a higher level of support than those in networks with a partner. Women without higher education were more reliant on close family members than those with higher education, and this was more so for women without a partner. Women with higher education without a partner were more reliant on friends and were overall best supported. Women without higher education who did not have a partner were overall least well supported. They had much smaller networks, were highly reliant on close family members, and on high level contributions from all network members. There is a need to develop network-based interventions to support people with a cancer diagnosis, prioritising support for the groups identified as most at risk. Interventions that support engagement with existing network members during treatment, and those that help extend such networks after treatment, are likely to be of benefit. A network perspective can help to develop tailored support and interventions by recognising the interactions between network and individual level processes.
Text
Social_networks_in_self-management_support_for_young_women
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 13 April 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The HORIZONS study was funded by Macmillan Cancer Support (ref: 3546834). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Vassilev et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 478556
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/478556
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: cec2427a-3502-4409-8174-e938493ba5d3
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 04 Jul 2023 17:58
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:32
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Sharon Xiaowen Lin
Author:
Josh Turner
Author:
David Wright
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
