Social support

Question 1

What is social support?

Answer 1

Social support is the term given to how well
an individual is embedded into a network of
communication and social obligation
and
is used to describe an individual’s feeling of
being valued and cared for by their social
network

Question 2

What are the two parts to social support?

Answer 2

Functional (Amount of support) and structural (network density)

Question 3

What are the types of functional support?

Answer 3

• Emotional
• Instrumental
• Informational
• Appraisal

Question 4

What are the sources of social support?

Answer 4

Personal
Formal i.e church
Professional: Drs etc

Question 5

How does social support effect health?

Answer 5

• Social support improves adherence to medical treatment
• Social support influences health behaviours and lifestyle –
  eg. diet, smoking, drinking, exercise
• Social support buffers against stress
  – Protects against negative effects of stress
  – Improves coping strategies during stress