How to study patient support?

Two approaches to social support

Abstract

This article focuses on the comparative analysis of two sociological approaches to social support. The first, from the sociology of chronic illness, deals with the issues of managing the illness and its effects on daily life. It considers the support provided by the entourage as a determining element of the experience of the illness. Another approach focuses on describing precisely the respective contribution of the various members of the entourage in terms of support. Using concepts from network analysis, this approach focuses on the types of resources provided and the characteristics of the social relationships that make up the support network. The article shows how this second approach has opened the way to a fruitful questioning of the process of obtaining support and presents avenues for renewing the study of social support. It makes it possible to combine the contributions of the network approach with an in-depth analysis of the experience of chronic illness.