Page 256 - Psychology of Wounds and Wound Care in Clinical Practice ( PDFDrive )

Family and Social Support 231

effecting change in pain management by rebuking common
misconceptions and myth that may obstruct effective pain
management.
The patient-professional relationship has been discussed
in a number of studies, with most demonstrating the positive
effect that this contact has on well-being. For example, the
patients in Hopkins’ ( 2004a , b ) study reported feeling happy
and able to joke with nurses once relationships had formed.
They felt understood and enjoyed these interactions.
However, this was not the case when unfamiliar nurses pro-
vided their care. Similar findings have emerged from other
studies (e.g. Byrne and Kelly 2010 ; Walshe 1995 ; Brown
2005a , b , c ). The central importance of the clinician-patient
relationship cannot be under-estimated in the successful
treatment of both clinical and psychological variables. It is
therefore essential that time, energy and resources are put
into developing this. However, the importance of other social
support relationships particularly with the family should not
be overlooked.

Family and Social Support

Social isolation can also affect social interaction, which may
lead to a tendency for patients to keep problems to them-
selves (Mudge et al. 2008 ) and this may subsequently increase
the stresses and strains of living with a wound with the con-
comitant impact on healing speed. It has been suggested that
social support and emotional disclosure can help the healing
process (Klyscz et al. 1998 ; Gonçalves et al. 2004 ). For
instance, Weinman et al. ( 2008 ) found that participants who
took part in the emotional disclosure intervention had
smaller wounds than control participants at 14 and 21 days.
These results suggest that reduced levels of social interaction
result in higher levels of perceived stress, which consequently
leads patients to have a slower wound-healing time, further
affecting their quality of life. Consequently, it is incumbent on
the health care professional to ensure that social support is
maximized. This may be through a number of means- whether