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Social environment and social support
Author(s) -
Ouellete Kobasa Suzanne C.,
Spinetta John J.,
Cohen Jerome,
Crano William D.,
Hatchett Shirley,
Kaplan Berton H.,
Lansky Shirley B.,
Prout Marianne N.,
Ruckdeschel John C.,
Siegel Karolynn,
Wellisch David K.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19910201)67:3+<788::aid-cncr2820671406>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - psychosocial , multidisciplinary approach , social support , poverty , relevance (law) , medicine , gerontology , public relations , psychology , sociology , economic growth , social psychology , political science , psychiatry , social science , law , economics
Abstract Research on the relevance of social support to cancer has been plentiful since the first American Cancer Society workshop on methodological issues in behavioral and psychosocial science. Nonetheless, critical shortcomings continue to characterize the attempt empirically to establish such things as the extent to which social support predicts adjustment to cancer diagnosis and treatment. Prominent among these is the failure to adequately address large elements of the social structure, such as social class and urbanization, and to investigate how they shape the well being of persons with or at risk for cancer and their caregivers. We recommend that more psychosocial research on the link between social support and cancer be conducted within populations beset by poverty and without adequate access to health care. Funding is needed for the training and maintenance of multidisciplinary and multicultural teams of researchers working within community‐based organizations and hospitals serving the underserved.