AI Article Synopsis
- AYAs with cancer face unique challenges and benefit from social support, which improves their coping strategies and overall quality of life.
- In a study involving 32 participants, it was found that family members are the most significant source of various types of support, while clinicians and peers also contribute in specific areas.
- One-third of the participants reported "mixed support," indicating that while they had primary support from caregivers, they still lacked adequate support in some aspects, suggesting a need for further research and targeted interventions.
Article Abstract
Purpose: Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer are an at-risk group with unique palliative and supportive care needs. Social support in AYAs with cancer is associated with better coping, quality of life, and psychosocial well-being. Here, we extend existing research to examine the sources and types of support received by AYAs with advanced cancer.
Methods: AYAs participated in a semi-structured, 1:1 interview on communication and psychosocial support needs. The present analysis focused on social support experiences for AYAs with advanced cancer. Directed content analysis was used to develop the codebook. Established social support constructs provided a coding framework. We presented our qualitative findings as a code frequency report with quantified frequency counts of all "source of support" and "type of support" codes. We assigned a global "sufficiency of support code" to each AYA.
Results: We interviewed 32 AYAs with advanced cancer (Mage = 18, SDage = 3.2, 41% female). Most AYAs identified family (namely, caregivers) as their primary source of support and stated that family universally provided all types of support: emotional, informational, instrumental, and social companionship. They received informational and emotional support from clinicians, and received emotional support and social companionship from healthy peers, cancer peers, and their existing community. One-third of participants were coded as having "mixed support" and described a lack of support in some domains.
Conclusion: AYAs with advanced cancer described caregivers as their universal source of support, and that other support sources provided support for specific needs. Future research should continue to evaluate social support needs and family-based palliative and supportive care interventions to bolster social support resources in this high-risk group.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11290203 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-024-01527-y | DOI Listing |
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