Social Support
Why are Social Relations Important to Care Partners?
As human beings, we are social individuals. For all individuals, we need social relationships to feel that our life is purposeful and satisfying. Besides those reasons for social interactions, social relationships also impact:
- Support Your Mental and Physical Health: these interactions help you regulate your mood, which has a direct effect on your mental health and improve your ability to respond to a situation.
- Prevents Isolation: helps you connect to our community and create connections that can offer you support as a care partner.
- Helps Manage Stress: conversations with supportive individuals are a healthy coping strategy for stress. Additionally, by having a support network you are more prepared to respond to a stressful situation as you are in a positive state to respond to the situation.
- Support Your Role: social relationships can support you through your loved one’s transitional period and validate the emotions that you experience during these periods.
- Additional Daily Support: your social relationships can provide physical or verbal support during your day-to-day activities as a care partner, which can help reduce stress symptoms.
Who Is In A My Support Network?
- Family
- Friends
- Community Organization Individuals
- Religious Groups
- Health Care Professionals
- Skilled Support Services
- Help Lines
- Parkinson’s Foundation: 1-800-473-4636
- Support Groups:
- Struthers Parkinson’s Clinic in Minneapolis offers an online caregiver skill-building class that is offered once a month.
References:
Companions for Seniors. (2019, February 4). How to create a caregiving network. https://companionsforseniors.com/2019/02/how-to-create-a-caregiving-network/
LeBlanc, R., Chiodo, L., & Jacelon, C. S. (2022). Social relationship influence on self‐care and health among older people living with long term conditions: A mixed‐methods study. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 17(4), e12450. https://doi.org/10.1111/opn.12450
Miura, K., W., Sekiguchi, T., Otake-Matsuura, M., Sawada, Y., Tanaka, E., Watanabe, T., Tomisaki, E., Okumura, R., Kawasaki, Y., Ito, S., & Anme, T. (2022). Patterns of social relationships among community-dwelling older adults in Japan: Latent class analysis. BMC Geriatrics, 22(1), 75–75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-02748-7
Pilcher, J., J., & Bryant, S., A. (2016). Implications of social support as a self-control resource. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10, 228–228. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00228
