Desired and Perceived Social Support from Family, Friends, and Health Professionals

Abstract

In a panel study of 125 patients in Hong Kong suffering from nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the patients reported their desire for and satisfaction with the types of support they received throughout the course of their illness from family members, friends, and health professionals. The measures designed for the study proved to be highly reliable. The results of the study showed that the patients' overall desire for social support was not strong during the diagnostic phase of the illness, but it became moderately strong during the treatment and posttreatmenl phases. Among the three sources of support, the patients consistently sought support most often from health professionals, followed by family, then friends. The patients' satisfaction with four types of support-informational, emotional, instrumental, and affiliational support-from the three sources was moderately high in all three phases of the illness. Health professionals, particularly oncology social workers, should continue providing support to cancer patients even in the posttreatment phase, and family members and others should be helped to be aware of patients' need for support throughout the course of the illness.