ArticlePloS one2013
Social networks, the 'work' and work force of chronic illness self-management: a survey analysis of personal communities.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Exploring the use of social network interventions for adults with mental health difficulties: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Assessing the effectiveness of social network interventions for adults with a diagnosis of mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of impact.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Social network participation towards enactment of self-care in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative meta-ethnography.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021Pooled it
- Conceptualising the social networks of vulnerable children and young people: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2021Pooled it
- Toward consensus on self-management support: the international chronic condition self-management support framework.Health promotion international · 2017Guideline
- Self-Management and Self-Management Support Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Mixed Research Synthesis of Stakeholder Views.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Living with, managing and minimising treatment burden in long term conditions: a systematic review of qualitative research.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Assessing a facilitated social network intervention for health outcomes in lonely and socially isolated people: the pragmatic, cluster-randomized PALS trial.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
- Aligning everyday life priorities with people's self-management support networks: an exploration of the work and implementation of a needs-led telephone support system.BMC health services research · 2014Trial
- Trial
- Implementation of self management support for long term conditions in routine primary care settings: cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2013Trial
- Social networks and intergenerational support among rural left-behind older adults in China: a latent profile analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Compensatory network capital: negative and ambivalent ties in the conversion of health literacy into action.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- Negotiating energy, fear, and control: a qualitative study of nutrition and exercise experiences among middle-aged adults with obesity and diabetes-related cardiomyopathy.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Article
- Experiences of Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Use of Reliever Inhalers in Patients With Asthma and Concurrent Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction or Breathing Pattern Disorder: Qualitative Analysis of a UK Asthma Online Community.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Parenting roles for young people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder transitioning to adult services.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2023Article
- The role of social networks in the self-management support for young women recently diagnosed with breast cancer.PloS one · 2023Article
- "They're all struggling as well": social and economic barriers and facilitators to self-managing chronic illness among marginalized people who use drugs.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2022Article
- Accounts of preventative coping: an interview study of stroke survivors on general practice registers.BMJ open · 2022Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Self-management support forms a central aspect of chronic Illness management nationally and globally. Evidence for the success of self-management support has mainly focussed on individually-centred outcomes of behavioural change. While it is recognised that social network members play an important role there is currently a gap in knowledge regarding who provides what type of support and under what circumstances. This is relevant for understanding the division of labour and the meeting of needs for those living with a long-term condition. We therefore took a network approach to explore self-management support conceptualising it as types of illness 'work' undertaken within peoples' social networks. 300 people from deprived areas and with chronic illnesses took part in a survey conducted in 2010 in the North West of England. A concentric circles diagram was used as a research tool with which participants identified 2,544 network members who contributed to illness management. The results provide an articulation of how social network members are substantially involved in illness management. Whilst partners and close family make the highest contributions there is evidence of inputs from a wide range of relationships. Network member characteristics (type of relationship, proximity, frequency of contact) impact on the amount of illness work undertaken in peoples' networks. In networks with 'no partner' other people tend to contribute more in the way of illness related work than in networks with a partner. This indicates a degree of substitutability between differently constituted networks, and that the level and type of input by different members of a network might change according to circumstances. A network perspective offers an opportunity to redress the balance of an exclusively individual focus on self-management because it addresses the broader set of contributions and resources available to people in need of chronic illness management and support.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.