Older People Living Well Beyond Cancer: The Relationship Between Emotional Support and Quality of Life.

To investigate the influence of emotional support on the quality of life (QoL) of older cancer survivors. We use data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to assess the relationship between perceived emotional support and QoL, comparing people who were cancer survivors ( = 533) to people without cancer ( = 8,203). Most people reported high emotional support and had good QoL ( = 42.57, scale = 0-57). However, linear regression modeling showed cancer survivors had on average slightly lower QoL (-2.10 = 0.82). Those who reported having low support reported much poorer QoL; this relationship was similar for both cancer survivors and people without cancer. The impact of low emotional support on QoL compounds with the independent detrimental effect of being a cancer survivor. Interventions that increase emotional support are likely to improve QoL for cancer survivors.