Support
This section includes a range of topics around peer support, social support, social networks and care maps, and social prescribing. Options for training, mentoring and supervision are also included.
Overview
People, families, whānau and communities play a key role in managing their own health and well-being. Peer and social support for self-management, especially when peers such as friends and family rather than strangers are identified by patients, has been found to help with achieving positive health outcomes.
As evidence of usefulness grows, these patient-centred approaches to self-management are becoming more prevalent both in New Zealand and overseas.
An individual's social support comes from their own unique social network. The quality of these networks can have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of people living with long-term conditions. There is an increasing body of evidence demonstrating that an individual's social network can enable people to self-manage and to maintain social connection and individual identity.