Effect of Social Networks on The Emotional Health of Cancer Patients in Nepal
Description
In the context of developing countries, chronic illness is one of the dominant health burdens, and cancer is responsible for majority of the deaths. This study tries to understand how social networks affect the emotional well-being of the cancer patients. The data for this paper comes from the field survey that was conducted in four major hospitals in Nepal in Summer 2018. The survey collected data on quality of life of cancer patients and patients of other chronic illnesses. The data suggests that the cancer patients suffer from higher levels of emotional stress compared to other patients. We hypothesize that social networks can help reduce this emotional burden and improve their emotional well-being. The social network is measured by the quality of the relationships of cancer patients with their friends, family and colleagues. The emotional burden (depression) is measured using nine questions from Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) which is used to assess the degree of emotional stress among the patients. The study uses structural equation modelling to understand the effect of social networks in coping with depressive symptoms. We use Stress Buffering Model (to get indirect effect) and Direct Effect Model (to get direct effect) to understand the how the total effect of social network on depression takes place. We find that social network significantly reduces depression among cancer patients via both direct and indirect effect. We also find that social network helps women more in coping up with depression compared to the men cancer patients. These results strongly advocate for the importance of social networks in improving the quality of life of cancer patients.
Effect of Social Networks on The Emotional Health of Cancer Patients in Nepal
In the context of developing countries, chronic illness is one of the dominant health burdens, and cancer is responsible for majority of the deaths. This study tries to understand how social networks affect the emotional well-being of the cancer patients. The data for this paper comes from the field survey that was conducted in four major hospitals in Nepal in Summer 2018. The survey collected data on quality of life of cancer patients and patients of other chronic illnesses. The data suggests that the cancer patients suffer from higher levels of emotional stress compared to other patients. We hypothesize that social networks can help reduce this emotional burden and improve their emotional well-being. The social network is measured by the quality of the relationships of cancer patients with their friends, family and colleagues. The emotional burden (depression) is measured using nine questions from Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) which is used to assess the degree of emotional stress among the patients. The study uses structural equation modelling to understand the effect of social networks in coping with depressive symptoms. We use Stress Buffering Model (to get indirect effect) and Direct Effect Model (to get direct effect) to understand the how the total effect of social network on depression takes place. We find that social network significantly reduces depression among cancer patients via both direct and indirect effect. We also find that social network helps women more in coping up with depression compared to the men cancer patients. These results strongly advocate for the importance of social networks in improving the quality of life of cancer patients.