The Impact of Online Social Support on Patients’ Quality of Life and the Moderating Role of Social Exclusion
研究验证了在线健康社区中情感、信息、陪伴和关联四种社会支持对慢性病患者身体、心理和存在性生活质量的影响，发现情感支持对心理生活质量最有效，且社会排斥感高的患者获益更多。
Social support is critical for improving patients’ health outcomes. People living with chronic diseases are often socially excluded and thus face many challenges in their lives. The type and amount of social support they receive from online health care communities can potentially enhance their quality of life. This research verifies emotional support, informational support, companionship, and relatedness as four categories of online social support pertinent in health care communities. In examining the detailed effects of multidimensional online social support on physical, psychological, and existential quality of life, this research finds that the impact of emotional support on psychological quality of life is most effective. An empirical survey of 349 participants finds that the influential outcomes of online social support on quality of life depend on stigmatized patients’ perceptions of their level of social exclusion. In general, stigmatized patients with high levels of social exclusion seek a variety of online social support and attain a more improved quality of life than those patients with lower levels of social exclusion. This research recommends that the health care sector emphasize patients’ synergies and develop online customer resources to extend the limited medical support available.