University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Chair of Foundations of Social Work, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e4384-e4394. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13838. Epub 2022 May 15.
In many European countries, including the Netherlands, current care policies encourage 'active citizens' to support each other rather than having individuals rely on paid professional help. Rehabilitation centres also put greater emphasis on social networks assisting adults with acquired long-term disabilities and their caregivers. Often these adults and their caregivers feel insufficiently prepared to cope with the disability in daily life and struggle with community integration. However, little is known about the factors that make vulnerable people accept or decline support from their social networks. We researched the social support needs of persons with acquired disabilities and their caregivers eligible for a family group conference intervention by conducting 19 semi-structured interviews in rehabilitation centres in the Netherlands. A thematic analysis revealed that most couples (15) were reluctant to request (more) support from their social network, even though many of them had a good network to rely on. We identified five reasons for this reluctance: (1) not accustomed asking support, (2) not wanting to be a (bigger) burden, (3) fear of intrusion into one's privacy and independence, (4) fear or problematic motivations such as curiosity or pity and (5) lack of reliability, competence, or comprehension. The main factor seemed to be the lack of reciprocity: couples do not see sufficient options to reciprocate the necessary support. Therefore, before instigating social support-centred interventions such as family group conferences, social care and other health professionals should be aware of any factors causing a sense of reluctance and explore the experiences of an imbalance in reciprocity.
在许多欧洲国家，包括荷兰，当前的护理政策鼓励“积极公民”相互支持，而不是让个人依赖付费的专业帮助。康复中心也更加注重社会网络，以帮助患有后天长期残疾的成年人及其照顾者。这些成年人及其照顾者通常感到在日常生活中应对残疾和融入社区方面准备不足。然而，人们对使脆弱人群接受或拒绝其社交网络支持的因素知之甚少。我们通过在荷兰的康复中心进行 19 次半结构化访谈，研究了有后天残疾的人和有资格参加家庭小组会议干预的照顾者的社会支持需求。主题分析显示，大多数夫妇（15 对）不愿意向他们的社交网络请求（更多）支持，尽管他们中的许多人都有一个可以依靠的良好网络。我们确定了这种不情愿的五个原因：（1）不习惯请求支持，（2）不想成为（更大的）负担，（3）担心侵犯隐私和独立性，（4）担心或存在好奇或怜悯等有问题的动机，以及（5）缺乏可靠性、能力或理解力。主要因素似乎是缺乏互惠：夫妇没有看到足够的选择来回报必要的支持。因此，在发起以社会支持为中心的干预措施（如家庭小组会议）之前，社会护理和其他卫生专业人员应该了解任何导致不情愿的因素，并探讨互惠不平衡的经验。
