SOCIAL-RELATIONS IN A CHRONIC CARE HOSPITAL - A WHOLE NETWORK STUDY OF PATIENTS, FAMILY AND EMPLOYEES

Institutionalization is associated with the loss of informal social ti es because isolation in the community increases the risk of admission and/or admission to a facility increases the risk that ties will be se vered. The literature on social relationships with institutions has be en limited by the use of biased samples, simplistic measures and exclu sion of patients unable to respond to verbal or written questionnaires . The methodological aspects of a whole network study of chronic care hospital patients are discussed with a particular emphasis on network sampling and non-response bias. The substantive aspects of the present analyses focus in the different patterns of relationships of patients , family and employees in a hospital setting. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e B.V.