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PubMed1983

Social networks and patterns of help-seeking behaviour.

Previous research has suggested that patterns of help-seeking behaviour are influenced by who the sufferer consults when deciding whether to seek medical care or not. This research has been extended to include episodes of illness and injury where more formal contacts are brought into the consultation process. The results show that the perceived urgency with which medical care is required is influenced by who the person has contact with. Some groups such as the police, bystanders and neighbours and friends may be more likely to suggest that the sufferer should seek medical attention than other consultants. This difference was explained in terms of the social, economic, moral and legal pressures associated with these people's positions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Infection in social networks: using network analysis to identify high-risk individuals.

Simulation studies using susceptible-infectious-recovered models were conducted to estimate individuals' risk of infection and time to infection in small-world and randomly mixing networks. Infection transmitted more rapidly but ultimately resulted in fewer infected individuals in the small-world, compared with the random, network. The ability of measures of network centrality to identify high-risk individuals was also assessed. "Centrality" describes an individual's position in a population; numerous parameters are available to assess this attribute. Here, the authors use the centrality measures degree (number of contacts), random-walk betweenness (a measure of the proportion of times an individual lies on the path between other individuals), shortest-path betweenness (the proportion of times an individual lies on the shortest path between other individuals), and farness (the sum of the number of steps between an individual and all other individuals). Each was associated with time to infection and risk of infection in the simulated outbreaks. In the networks examined, degree (which is the most readily measured) was at least as good as other network parameters in predicting risk of infection. Identification of more central individuals in populations may be used to inform surveillance and infection control strategies.

Community-Acquired Infections↗
PubMed2001

Substituting the forest for the trees: social networks and the prediction of romantic relationship state and fate.

This research focused on perceptions held by heterosexual couples' friendship network concerning the couple's relationship. In a three-wave longitudinal study, we examined (a) whether these perceptions were similar to the couple's views of the relationship, (b) whether they predicted current relationship state and future fate, and (c) how they compared with the couple's perceptions in predicting fate. Consistent with within-dyad idealization, results from a North American sample indicated that network perceptions of relationship state were significantly more negative than those held by a couple. Although both the couples' and the total networks' perceptions predicted fate, friends of the female couple member were particularly successful at predicting relationship dissolution. An examination of possible mechanisms whereby friends may come to possess particularly predictive perceptions supported the role of couple-disclosure in this process.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The negative social network: when friends are foes.

In this study, three factors appear to influence significantly whether a child in foster care would be returned to the parent. The factors proved to be the number of persons in the parent's home, the number of friends in the neighborhood, and the frequency with which the parent saw those friends.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A multi-state outbreak of tuberculosis among members of a highly mobile social network: implications for tuberculosis elimination.

SETTING: Baltimore, Maryland. OBJECTIVE: To describe a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak among a highly mobile population and the efforts required to control it. DESIGN: Epidemiologic outbreak investigation. RESULTS: Between June 1998 and January 2000, 20 TB outbreak cases were identified, of which 18 were culture-confirmed. Seventeen isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis had an identical 11-band DNA fingerprint; another isolate had one additional band and was considered a match. Two cases were diagnosed in New York City; another patient lived primarily in Atlanta, but was diagnosed in Baltimore. Persons in the outbreak were predominantly young (median age 24 years), black, male, infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and gay, transvestite or transsexual. Activities common among many TB cases included attending two nightclubs, membership in one of three social 'Houses', attending balls or pageants in East Coast cities, marijuana use, and prostitution. Community outreach, extended contact tracing, DNA fingerprinting, directly-observed therapy, and expanded use of preventive therapy were utilized to assess and control the outbreak. During the outbreak period the Baltimore City TB rate declined by 10%. However, additional public health personnel were required to control the outbreak, resulting in a 17% increase in TB clinic staff. CONCLUSION: As TB rates decline, remaining cases are likely to occur in difficult-to-reach populations. Increased resources per case of TB treated will be required to eliminate TB.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2003

Strategies for reaching retirement communities and aging social networks: HIV/AIDS prevention activities among seniors in South Florida.

Since 1993, the HIV/AIDS Program Office of the Broward County Health Department has recognized the importance of targeting the population of those aged 50 years and older. Close examination of epidemiological data for the south Florida area and requests from health care providers showed that targeted intervention had to address the needs of the seniors as well as the beliefs and perceptions of their health practitioners. Originally designed to provide community training, identify and train volunteer peer educators, and increase awareness and sensitivity among providers of health services, the senior initiative was officially expanded with funding from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs in 1997. The resulting Senior HIV Intervention Project (SHIP) is more comprehensive than the original senior training program, addressing the increased need for early intervention activities, HIV counseling, and testing. SHIP also links HIV-positive seniors to care and treatment services through a network of trained staff and volunteers. SHIP's considerable experience in serving the needs of older adults offers useful insight for others developing successful HIV/AIDS programming for people aged 50 years and older.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2003

Effects of a social-network method for group assignment strategies on peer-led tobacco prevention programs in schools.

OBJECTIVES: Our study tested the effectiveness of network methods for identifying opinion leaders and for constructing groups. METHODS: Three conditions-random, teacher, and network--ere randomly assigned to 84 6th-grade classrooms within 16 schools. Pre- and postcurriculum data on mediators of tobacco use were collected from 1961 students. Peer leaders in the network condition were identified by student nominations, and those leaders were matched with the students who nominated them. RESULTS: Students in the network condition relative to the random condition liked the prevention program more and had improved attitudes (beta = -0.06; P <.01), improved self-efficacy (beta = -0.10; P <.001), and decreased intention to smoke (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.38, 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: The network method was the most effective way to structure the program. Future programs may refine this technique and use it in other settings.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Adjusting to widowhood: do social networks really make it easier?

Positive and negative aspects of relations with friends and family were examined among groups of widows in focus-group discussions, where relationships mentioned were coded as positive or negative. Approximately 40% of all mentions were negative, with family members receiving more negative mentions. Family relations showed commitments involving both problematic obligations and an inability to avoid undesirable behavior. Non-family relations showed flexibility, with increases in positive relationships and decreases in negative ones.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

A job and a home: social networks and the integration of the mentally disabled in the community.

Formerly hospitalized psychiatric patients participated in a program including skills in apartment living and employment. Contrasted to a comparison group, program graduates showed more multifunctional and more reciprocal relationships with other people. Results highlight the importance of work, housing, and the utilization of community services, and suggest the quality of supportive interpersonal relations as a criterion of program success.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Housing status and social networks for the elderly].

There is a provable correlation between the housing conditions of elderly persons and their being attached to a network of aid they can rely on in cases of emergency and strain. The elderly living in one or two-family houses, for example, have several options of being supported. The elderly living in big city tenements on the other hand often lack such an abundance of relations. Integration into the circle of family members and relatives plays the major role for these quantitative framework conditions as well as for the immediate availability of assistance. Having a house of one's own increases the possibility of developing a well-functioning cross-generation support system within the family. If promotion of house construction was further adapted to this operating mechanism, support effects for social policy could be reached. At the same time it is imperative to encourage the development of informal support systems within the framework of socio-political initiatives. With the number of childless elderly persons increasing, such systems would partially compensate for the lack of family assistance through neighbourhood and other forms of self-support.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Assessing the role of social network interventions with an inner-city population.

This study assesses an experimental network intervention program conducted in a single-room-occupancy hotel. The relatively low percentage of successful interventions indicated that such procedures must be used cautiously but may be valuable if attention is paid to the types of problems and their immediacy, client characteristics, client education, and the building of trust.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Social networks, caregiver strain, and utilization of mental health services among elementary school students at high risk for ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether parental support networks vary by sociodemographic factors among children at high risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and whether network characteristics influence the receipt of mental health treatment for the child. METHOD: A school district-wide, two-phase screening study design was used to identify 266 children at high risk for ADHD. Parents completed standardized instruments assessing network structure and function, DSM-IV diagnoses of disruptive disorders, caregiver strain, and treatment receipt, and children self-reported internalizing symptoms. Relationships were examined with analysis of variance and multivariate prediction, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, psychopathology, and parental strain. RESULTS: Network characteristics varied by race and socioeconomic status (SES), but not by child gender. African-American and disadvantaged parents reported smaller network sizes, but more frequent contact and higher levels of support than their white and high-SES counterparts. High levels of instrumental support lowered the odds of ADHD treatment during the 12 months before (OR =.7, p <.001) and after (OR =.7, p <.001) the network assessment interview. In contrast, parental strain increased the likelihood of ADHD treatment during both periods. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should anticipate high levels of caregiver strain and low levels of instrumental support among their patients' parents and address the potential high need for respite care in treatment plans.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed2005

Effects of race, neighborhood, and social network on age at initiation of injection drug use.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated individual- and neighborhood-level factors associated with adolescent initiation of injection drug use. METHODS: Injection drug users (IDUs) who had been injecting 2 to 5 years underwent HIV testing and completed a sociobehavioral risk survey. Modeling techniques accounting for intraneighborhood correlations were used in data analyses. RESULTS: Adolescent-initiating IDUs were less likely than adult-initiating IDUs to report high-risk sex and injection behaviors and more likely to report high-risk networks. African American IDUs from neighborhoods with large percentages of minority residents and low adult educational levels were more likely to initiate injection during adolescence than White IDUs from neighborhoods with low percentages of minority residents and high adult education levels. CONCLUSIONS: Racial segregation and neighborhood-level educational attainment must be considered when drawing inferences about age at initiation of injection drug use and related high-risk behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

Seeking help from a mental health professional: the influence of one's social network.

The decision to seek psychological help may be hindered or facilitated by many factors. Two potential factors that might facilitate help seeking are having a relationship with someone (a) who recommends seeking help or (b) who themselves have sought help. In two studies (N = 780, N = 746), we explored the relationship between these factors and intentions to seek mental health services. In Study 1, being prompted to seek help and knowing someone who had sought help were both related to positive expectations about mental health services. In Study 2, being prompted to seek help and knowing someone who had sought help were related to more positive attitudes toward help seeking. Also, knowing someone who had sought help was related to the intention to seek help. Of those who sought psychological help, approximately 75% had someone recommend that they seek help and about 94% knew someone who had sought help.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Effect of changes in physical capacities upon personal social network in aging people].

The aim of the research is to assess whether there is change in the size and composition of older adults' personal network. Furthermore, change in contact frequency and received instrumental support within the relationships is studied. Five relationship types are distinguished: children, other kin, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Older adults with a decline in physical capacity are compared with those with stable and increased capacities. Furthermore, differences according to (change in) partner status and age are investigated. Data are from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, including the first and fourth observation of 1634 older adults living independently. The observation interval is 7 years. A decline in physical capacities is observed for 35% of the older adults, the capacities are stable for 60% and an increase is observed for 5% of the respondents. In general, network size and composition did not change. The frequency of contact within the relationships decreased. Decline was considerable for parent-child relationships, but relatively modest among older adults who faced a moderate to strong physical decline. However, among older adults who did not have a partner at the fourth observation and among the oldest (> 75 years) the frequency of contact with children increased, independently of the degree of physical decline. The decline in contact with neighbours was nearly absent for older adults who faced a moderate to strong physical decline; the contact increased when there was no partner at the fourth observation. The instrumental support received increased within all relationship types, independently of the degree of physical decline. It is concluded that research into determinants of the decline and increase in parent-child contacts is needed and that the meaning of neighbours should receive attention.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Needle-sharing among young IV drug users and their social network members: The influence of the injection partner's characteristics on HIV risk behavior.

Injection drug use is a risk factor for HIV among adolescents and young adults, yet the interpersonal dynamics of needle-sharing among young injectors remain poorly understood. Research has focused on identifying the characteristics of individual IV drug users (IVDUs) that increase their risk of needle-sharing. Most studies have not taken into consideration IVDUs' decisions to share needles with certain partners but not with other partners. This study examined partner characteristics associated with needle-sharing among 96 male and 77 female young adult IV drug users who had shared needles previously. Men were most likely to share needles with partners who gave them emotional support, partners who they injected or who injected them, and partners with whom they had had sex. Women were most likely to share needles with partners who they injected or who injected them, partners with whom they had discussed HIV risk, and partners with whom they had had sex. Results indicate that needle-sharing occurs within the context of mutual injection rituals and close emotional and sexual relationships. Public health interventions are needed to help young IVDUs to avoid needle-sharing with intimate partners.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Social networks and best practices in public health: the example of regional billing groups.

OBJECTIVE: Rising health care costs, increased demand for clinical services, and reimbursement difficulties created a funding shortage among local health departments in the state of Kansas. This intervention established regional billing groups to provide professional support and increase third-party reimbursement. DESIGN: Through feedback sessions, billing clerks provided qualitative responses about training needs. These informed the process of establishing billing groups in each state health district. SAMPLE: All billing clerks in the state's 6 regional health districts were invited to participate, as were insurance and billing software representatives. INTERVENTION: Between April 2002 and September 2004, 6 collaborative groups were established. Billing clerks received professional support and training from peers, insurance representatives, and software providers. An interagency billing advisory team was established to coordinate training activities between groups. RESULTS: These groups have allowed local health departments to increase reimbursement revenue by 50%-75%, allowing for the provision of expanded health services to client populations. CONCLUSIONS: These methods can serve as a model for other states, particularly those with considerable rural populations or decentralized health care systems. Still, funding shortages persist, and public health billing clerks will continue to need ongoing training in the most current and effective billing methods.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

[The resources of the social network of single person households during acute illness. Basic data for home care planning in an influenza epidemic].

UNLABELLED: 230 single persons living in the city of Zurich, 60% aged 18-45, 10% 45-65 and 22% older than 64 years; 70% males were subject to an enquiry. The questioned persons mostly live in two-room-apartments, on average for 11 years, they are single for 8.5 years on average. Solely 5.4% have no living relatives but 32% see them only irregularly (same for all age groups) and 4% are not persistently in touch with friends or acquaintances. 36% were needing help in the past because of sickness or accident. They got it from neighbours (38%), friends, acquaintances (36%), family members (17%) and from home care organisations (9%). In case of a heavy wave of influenza only 14% would not help their neighbours, they would help an average of four neighbours but also they would surely not help four neighbours. The answering persons know 23 singles (= 10%) who presumably would not get any help and 20 (= 9%) who would decline help. 90% of the questioned persons believe, that they would get help by family members or friends, even if those live far away, but still 29% expect help from home care organisations, of the questioned over 64 years old even 52%. CONCLUSION: 10-30% of city singles need help in form of home care in case of an acute illness like heavy influenza.

Adolescent↗