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Social Support Needs Of Minority Breast Cancer Patients: Significance Of Racial Homogeneity And Kin Composition Of Social Networks, Ganga Vijayasiri, Garth H. Rauscher, Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, Richard T. Campbell, Richard Warnecke

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Social support from family and friends assists breast cancer patients navigate a life crisis, but more needs to be understood about specific social network characteristics that can benefit breast cancer patients. To address this need, the primary aim of this study was to identify social network factors that facilitate or reduce social support. Given racially patterned gaps in social support among breast cancer patients, a secondary goal was to identify network characteristics that are linked to gaps in support. We examined these research questions using data from a sample of 915 breast cancer patients (NHWhite=373; NHBlack=377; Hispanic=165) and 4,021 of …