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Informational Support (informational + support)
Selected AbstractsEmotional and informational support for families during their child's illnessINTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 3 2006A. Sarajärvi rn Purpose:, To describe and compare the support provided by nursing staff to families during their child's illness from the viewpoint of families and nurses. Method:, A survey method was used. Data were collected by questionnaires planned for families and staff separately. The study population consisted of families who visited paediatric outpatient clinics, families with hospitalized children (n = 344) and the paediatric nursing staff (n = 60). Findings:, Almost half of the families had received adequate emotional and informational support from the nursing staff for their physical and psychological reactions. One-fifth of the families reported that they had not been supported at all during the child's hospitalization. According to families and nurses, the support was provided in the forms of discussion, listening and giving time. Implications for practice:, Families' and nurses' suggestions for development of support were related to the time resources of the staff, to the flow of information, to more client-centred attitudes, to being appreciated and listened to and to home care guidance. However, the pervasiveness of this problem in the international literature suggests that deeper consideration of possible underlying reasons for this phenomenon is called for. [source] Experience of Hong Kong patients awaiting kidney transplantation in mainland ChinaJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 11c 2007Sylvie SH Leung MN Aim., This paper describes the experience of Hong Kong Chinese patients awaiting kidney transplantation in mainland China. Background., While travelling to mainland China for kidney transplantation is a controversial issue, there is an increasing trend of Hong Kong Chinese patients with chronic kidney disease seeking this treatment choice, which outnumbers that performed in Hong Kong. Although these patients seek pre- and post-transplantation care from Hong Kong public healthcare system, little is known about their experience during the waiting period. Methods., This experience is examined in an exploratory qualitative study. In-depth interviews were used to collect data from a purposive sample of 12 kidney recipients. Results., Three major findings are identified: (i) transplant waiting patients may travel to mainland China for transplantation in search of normal life, (ii) they need informational support from their continuing healthcare providers in Hong Kong to make the informed decision and (iii) they perceive a variation of attitudes of nurses and doctors in Hong Kong towards transplantation in mainland China. Conclusions., This study contributes to the literature by researching patients' perspective. The findings highlight the importance and controversy of addressing these patients' informational needs. While the authors have no inclination for or against travelling to mainland China for transplantation, the findings reveal a tenacious clinical dilemma, which deserves debate in international transplant community and further research to inform the debate. Nurse and doctors in Hong Kong may contribute to the debate by articulating their experience of caring for these patients. Relevance to clinical practice., Health information that is readily available for patients scheduled for kidney transplantation in Hong Kong should be made accessible to the whole community of patients with chronic kidney disease. To address the complexity of patients travelling to elsewhere for transplantation and the needs of these patients, provider reticence may be counterproductive. [source] Soliciting and Providing Social Support Over the Internet: An Investigation of Online Eating Disorder Support GroupsJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2008Kristen Campbell Eichhorn Using a longitudinal, systematic random sample of 490 postings, this study analyzed the type of social support provided, the strategies used to solicit social support, and the themes on the top 5 Yahoo! eating disorder discussion boards. Optimal match theory was used as the theoretical framework for the study. Results suggest that messages providing informational support were more prevalent than those providing instrumental support. Also, the findings revealed that the most frequent strategy for soliciting support was sharing experiences and the most frequent theme was positive affect. The results of the study highlight the significance of prosocial communication exchanges on these discussion boards. Résumé Solliciter et apporter un soutien social sur Internet : Une étude des groupes de soutien en ligne liés aux troubles alimentaires Par une analyse longitudinale et systématique d,un échantillon aléatoire de 490 messages tirés des cinq plus grands babillards Yahoo! portant sur les troubles alimentaires, cette étude analyse le type de soutien social offert, les stratégies utilisées pour solliciter du soutien social ainsi que les thčmes des messages. La théorie de la correspondance optimale (optimal match theory) fut utilisée comme cadre théorique de l'étude. Les résultats suggčrent que les messages apportant un soutien informationnel furent plus courants que ceux fournissant un soutien instrumental. De plus, les résultats révčlent que la stratégie de recherche de soutien la plus fréquente était le partage d'expériences et que le thčme le plus courant était l'émotion positive. Les résultats de l'étude soulignent l,importance des échanges communicationnels ŕ caractčre sociable sur ces babillards. Abstract Kontaktanbahnung und soziale Unterstützung mit Hilfe des Internets: Eine Untersuchung von Online-Selbsthilfegruppen zum Thema Essstörungen Anhand einer zufälligen, systematischen Langzeitstichprobe von 490 Einträgen in den Top5 Yahoo! Diskussionsforen zu Essstörungen, untersuchten wir zum einen die Form der sozialen Unterstützung, zum anderen die Strategien der Anbahnung dieser sozialen Unterstützung und die diskutierten Themen. Die Theorie der optimalen Übereinstimmung diente als theoretischer Rahmen für die Studie. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Unterstützungsbotschaften informationeller Art häufiger vorkamen als solche, die instrumentelle Unterstützung boten. Zudem zeigten die Ergebnisse auch, dass am häufigsten über Erlebnisse berichtet wurde, um einen Kontakt herzustellen und positiver Affekt am häufigsten thematisiert wurde. Die Ergebnisse der Studie unterstreichen den Stellenwert eines prosozialen Kommmunikationsaustausches in diesen Diskussionsforen. Resumen Solicitando y Proveyendo Apoyo Social a través del Internet: Una Investigación de los Grupos Online de Apoyo Social de Desórdenes de la Alimentación Usando una muestra longitudinal, sistemática al azar de 490 mensajes, este estudio analizó el tipo de apoyo social provisto, las estrategias usadas para solicitar apoyo social, y los tópicos de 5 foros de Yahoo! de desórdenes de la alimentación. La teoría del ajuste óptimo fue usada como marco teórico para este estudio. Los resultados sugieren que los mensajes que proveen información de apoyo fueron más prevalentes que aquellos que proveen de apoyo instrumental. Los hallazgos revelaron también que la estrategia más frecuente para solicitar apoyo fue el compartir experiencias y el tema más frecuente fue el afecto positivo. Los resultados de este estudio subrayan la significancia de los intercambios de comunicación pro-social en las discusiones de estos foros. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] The contribution of social support to the material well-being of low-income familiesJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2005Julia R. Henly We hypothesize that the social support available from low-income networks serves primarily a coping function, rather than a leverage function. Social support and its relationship to material well-being is assessed in a sample of 632 former and current welfare recipients. Respondents report higher levels of perceived emotional, instrumental, and informational support than perceived financial support, and received financial aid is particularly uncommon. Multivariate findings demonstrate that perceived support is unrelated to employment quality, but it reduces the likelihood of living in poverty and is associated with three different measures of coping. These findings generally support the contention that informal aid is important for the everyday survival of low-income families, but is less able to assist with economic mobility. [source] Adult Children's Supportive Behaviors and Older Parents' Subjective Well,Being,A Developmental Perspective on Intergenerational RelationshipsJOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 4 2002Frieder R. Lang Adult children's supportive behaviors were examined with respect to children's autonomy and social motivation towards parents, and with respect to longitudinal changes of parents' subjective well,being. In total, 115 adult children from 83 German families completed a questionnaire on supportive behaviors and social motivation. The children also reported what pleased or irritated their parents most. Findings suggest that filial autonomy was associated with resistance to strain. Older parents' satisfaction improved when children expressed affection or gave emotional support. However, informational support from children was associated with decreased satisfaction among parents. Findings suggest that filial autonomy may facilitate supportive behaviors that correspond to older parents' socioemotional needs. [source] A semantic interface for post secondary education programsPROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2008Eduardo Torres Schumann We describe a prototype for a multilingual semantic interface to the academic programs of a university. Navigating within a graph model of the academic disciplines and fields, the users are led to course and program documents. For core academic concepts, informational support is provided by language specific links to Wikipedia. The web-based prototype is currently evaluated in a user study. [source] A pilot study to determine support during the pre-treatment phase of early prostate cancerPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 6 2005Ulrike Boehmer While we know about physicians' involvement in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, little is known about others who assist men in dealing with the diagnosis and treatment choices, once they are diagnosed with early prostate cancer, but not yet treated. This pilot study explores if men use other sources of support and the roles and functions of support providers. We conducted separate individual interviews with 21 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 18 persons identified by the diagnosed men as their support provider. Some of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer reported not relying on a support provider, others identified other men already treated for prostate cancer, others' their partner. The provided support consisted of informational and emotional support. Men already treated for prostate cancer provided informational support. Spousal support depended on the diagnosed partner's willingness to accept emotional and/or informational support. Due to the variation in diagnosed men's support, we recommend that physicians inquire about patients' sources of and interest in support. This will reveal which patients rely almost exclusively on physicians, when deciding on a certain treatment. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Interest in services among prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapyPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 8 2004Pamela J. Shapiro Treatment side effects and decreased quality of life associated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) suggest the need for supportive services for prostate cancer (PC) patients receiving ADT. Nonetheless, uptake of services is low, suggesting that PC patients' preferences are not being addressed. We examined interest in supportive services and predictors of interest among 118 PC patients receiving ADT. Overall interest in services was associated with lower quality of life (p=0.01). The majority of participants expressed interest in informational services (70%), with a minority (22%) expressing interest in psychosocial services. Interest in psychosocial services was associated with younger age (p=0.02), and shorter duration of ADT (p<0.04), but was unrelated to psychological distress or social support. Although most men (68%) reported that they would prefer not to take medication for depression, 75% would do so if advised by their physician. Overall, results suggest that PC patients on ADT prefer individualized informational support. Substantial interest (61%) in Oncolink, an internet-based informational resource, suggests the Internet may provide an acceptable mode of service delivery. Health care providers should consider integrating increased informational support into routine care and, more generally, consider patient preferences in prioritizing and designing support services. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||