The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of family and friends on older adults' self-management is a significant aspect of older adults' self-care and has important implications for the well-being of older-adults and for health care costs. Self-management occurs within a network of family and friends who may facilitate or impede the self- management process in a variety of ways. Yet the social context within which older adults attempt to manage their chronic illnesses is not well understood.
The specific aims of the present project include: (1) to identify and describe the various roles that family members and friends play in older adults' chronic illness self-management; (2) to identify and describe the various roles that family members and friends play in older adults; chronic illness self-management; (2) to identify the specific ways in which social network members (i.e. family and friends) positively and negatively influence older adults' self- management behavior; (3) to examine whether the role of the social network in older adults' self- management differs by gender, race or disease; and (4) to generate items for a measurement instrument that assesses pertinent social contexts of older adults' self-management behavior. Twelve focus group interviews will be conducted with older adults who are managing one of three chronic illnesses. To facilitate comparisons, groups will be composed according to gender, race and disease. Qualitative data will be analyzed with a grounded theory approach to develop an in-depth understanding of the role of social network members in the self-management process. Data analysis will focus on determining the extent to which family and friends are involved in self-management, the ways in which this involvement occurs, and the extent to which this involvement positively or negatively influences self-management The analysis will also provide insight into the mechanisms by which social network influence exerts its effects. The data will be used to develop a first generation of items for a measurement assessing the role of important social network members in self- management. Results will inform the development of tailed interventions that account for the specific roles of family and friends in order to maximize positive health outcomes.
