Apoyo familiar en la adaptación social de personas con enfermedades crónicas

Abstract

Family support is a substantial and influential element in the social adaptation of people with chronic diseases, facilitating their management, control and solvency to the challenges they face in their daily lives. This study starts from the theoretical knowledge of family systems and systemic therapy, adopting a qualitative approach of descriptive scope with phenomenological-hermeneutic design, so it aimed to analyze the impact of family support in the social adaptation of people with chronic diseases in the Ecuadorian context, taking into account their socioeconomic level, available resources and their family relationship, therefore, the sample consisted of four cases of patients with chronic diseases: Parkinson's, diabetes, osteoarthritis and ischemic heart disease, three of them residents of the city of Machala, and one belonging to the city of Arenillas. For data collection, a semi-structured interview was used to explore the family support perceived by the patients, their activities and experiences, and the FACES II-20-VER scale was applied to assess adaptability and family cohesion. The results of the study showed that family support is a fundamental component in the social adaptation of patients with chronic diseases, identifying three types of support: emotional, practical and preventive, the emotional being those expressions of empathic support fostering security and hope, while the practical refers to those aids in physical tasks and support for treatment, and the preventive focused on the promotion of a healthy and responsible life. The conclusions of the study highlight that family support significantly influences the social adaptation of people with chronic diseases, allowing a better assimilation of the disease, their adherence to treatment and their favorable disposition in the face of change.