Scleroderma patient perspectives on social support from close social relationships.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients might benefit more from interventions aiming at coping with scleroderma as a collective. Findings from this study help better understand the unique experiences of scleroderma patients while receiving support from close relationships. Implications for Rehabilitation People with scleroderma may benefit from receiving different types of support from their close social relationships, including emotional, informational, and instrumental support. Professionals working in the area of rehabilitation should encourage patients to identify close social relationships who have specialized knowledge and skills (e.g., comfort looking for resources and information on the Internet) to help them cope better with the challenges associated with scleroderma. As part of the proposed treatment, rehabilitation professionals should encourage patients to actively communicate their social support needs to close social relationships, as well as maintain an open and honest line of communication with them, which will improve their capacity to understand the patient and provide appropriate support. Rehabilitation professionals may support people with scleroderma by encouraging them to seek support from their close social relationships, but also by providing these close relationship with information and supportive services to learn new skills and better cope with their own distress. PMID: 30761932 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research