Support is the best medicine
Sharing your experience and talking with others when ill can be very good for your wellbeing. Here’s why support groups are great.
Good friends may help your life last longer as they’ll boost your self-esteem, offer companionship and provide support when you need it. A study by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University backed this up by following 1500 older Aussies for 10 years and found that those who had a large network of friends outlived those with fewer friends by 22 per cent.
When you know you can count on someone to help or provide support when you most need it, it can make the world of difference. However, sometimes people may not live near close friends or have found it difficult to develop a strong community group around them. When a person becomes ill, a good network can be the best medicine for helping to keep a person’s spirits up, so joining a support group could be the perfect solution.
Another study, completed in 2005 and published in health journal Cancer, found that out of the 61 women who had advanced ovarian cancer those with support networks had much lower levels of a protein linked with more aggressive types of cancer. Women who didn’t have as much social support around them had levels of the protein that were a whopping 70 per cent higher!
Support groups can bring people together who are facing similar issues, ranging from major life changes to illness. Many people join support groups because sharing experiences with people who are going through the same battles can be incredibly helpful and make a person feel like they’re not alone.
Well-known Australian cancer survivor, Dr Ian Gawler, who was diagnosed with bone cancer, had his right leg amputated and then had to battle the disease again later that same year, believes having a positive and practical attitude can help in many ways when battling disease.
According to a 2005 study by The Cancer Council, there are health benefits associated with being part of a health support group. These include: improvements in coping and adaptation, reductions in psychological stress, enhanced self-esteem and even positive effects on immunological response.
Just ask Terri-Ann Carter, a Queenslander who underwent surgery and chemotherapy for a lump on her neck. She started an online support group called Gladstone Cancer Friends as a way to cope with the isolation and stress of going through cancer treatment. For cancer sufferers, two big fears are one of relapse and social isolation. Whether online or in person, a support group can help a person cope with these two alienating factors.
When it comes to your health, nothing should be taken for granted. Together with surrounding yourself with the love and support of family, friends or new acquaintances from a support group, it’s always worth getting good health insurance.
How to find a support group:
Ask your doctor or health care provider. They may be able to point you in the right direction of a support group near you.
Go online. There are many over-60s who live in rural or regional areas, so more people are turning to the internet to connect with others for support and advice. Social media sites, such as Facebook, have become very popular for people to comfortably share their stories and experience in an open and supportive forum.
Get in touch with local centres. Look to your local community halls, libraries and even supermarket notice boards for possible support groups in your area.
Look to state or national bodies. Organisations for a particular illness or issue usually have a directory of the support groups in various local communities for people to be redirected to. Take a look and find one that’s close to you.
Can’t find one? Start your own. If there’s no support group near you, why not start your own? Look to start an online group via Facebook or post announcements on a board in your local medical centre or hospital to spread the word.
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