Despite the abundance of research on social support, both as a variable in larger studies and as a central focus of examination, there is little consensus about the relationship between social support and health outcomes. Current social support measures typically account only for frequency and size of network and a paucity of research exists that has explained social support burden, defined as the burden associated with accessing and receiving support from others. We analyzed audio-recorded discussions by hospice family caregivers about their caregiving problems and potential solutions to examine social relationships within networks and identify the processes that influence social support seeking and receiving. Using qualitative thematic analysis, we found that caregivers providing hospice care experience social support burden resulting from perceived relational barriers between friends and family, the inclination to remain in control, recognition of the loss of the patient as a source of social support and guidance in decision-making, family dynamics and decreased availability of emotional support. Social support researchers should consider how the quality of communication and relationships within social networks impacts the provision and subsequent outcomes of social support in varying contexts. Findings from this study suggest that hospice social support resources should be tailored to the caregiver’s support needs and include assessment on the type of support to be offered.

While providers should avoid stereotyping patients, an awareness of common challenges and adoption of recommended strategies to address these challenges may enhance the provision of culturally responsive person-centered services for seriously ill South Asian patients and their families receiving care in the United States.

Our conceptual model demonstrates the profound patient-burden of itch and identifies unmet needs in the evaluation and management of itch.

Following a cancer diagnosis, young adults (YAs; that is, 18-39) often experience altered social relationships with family, friends, romantic partners, and peers. In light of the social struggles YA patients and survivors report due to cancer's biographical disruption, we elicited narratives from 30 YA cancer survivors to examine how their normative perceptions of social support functioned to hinder and assist them in coping with the cancer experience. Through thematic narrative analysis of their individual accounts, YA survivors explained why and how they perceived various support attempts from peers and loved ones to be effective (i.e., being treated "normally"), ineffective (i.e., receiving pity, negative stories, rudeness, excessive self-monitoring, and returns from estrangement), and both effective and ineffective (e.g., instrumental and relational support) in integrating cancer into their biographies. Implications for the advancement of interpersonal communication theory and for the development of age-appropriate communication interventions, educational programs, and informational resources are discussed.

Care interventions are not routinely provided for hospice caregivers, despite widespread documentation of the burden and toll of the caregiving experience. Assessing caregivers for team interventions (ACT) proposes that holistic patient and family care includes ongoing caregiver needs assessment of primary, secondary, and intrapsychic stressors. In this study, our goal was to describe the variance in stressors for caregivers to establish evidence for the ACT theoretical framework. We used secondary interview data from a randomized controlled trial to analyze hospice caregiver discussions about concerns. We found variances in stress types, suggesting that caregiver interventions should range from knowledge and skill building to cognitive-behavioral interventions that aid in coping. Family members who assume the role of primary caregiver for a dying loved one need to be routinely assessed by hospice providers for customized interventions.