SOCIAL SUPPORT FROM HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIO NALS FOR ONCOLOGY IN-PATIENTS - THE RESEARCH PROJECT ON CHRONIC DISEASE AND COPING WITH DISEASE

We examined 63 in-patients in a medical hospital with a semi-structure d and video-taped interview about the professional social support they had received. Patients were quite satisfied with physicians' and nurs es' support, still more than one third of them had missed appraisal su pport from physicians. We found evidence that older, more ill and fema le patients perceived more professional social support was given. With the help of a hierarchical cluster analysis it was shown that the imp ortance of professional social support depended remarkably on individu al factors as identity or partner relation.