Introduction
The quality of peoples lives depends on a number of factors that impact a persons mentality, worldview, and his/her level of satisfaction. The evolution of the humanistic approach and reconsideration of the system of values resulted in the increased importance of any individual and his/her quality of life. That is why such science as sociology is focused on the investigation of the main factors that impact peoples lives and their quality. Furthermore, sociology also tends to monitor changes in the social opinion towards a person who faces significant problems that decrease the level of satisfaction and result in numerous disorders. For this reason, the given paper is focused on the investigation of the most important concerns related to chronic illnesses and the way they impact social relations within a family and community.
Background
One should accept the idea that any illness should be considered the factor that aggravates a persons life and conditions the appearance of numerous problems. For this reason, provision of the high-quality medical care to treat this very disease is the main task of the modern healthcare sector. However, there is a sort of diseases that persist for a long time (3 months or more) that are considered chronic (Golics, Basra, Finlay, & Salek, 2013). They could not be treated in a short period of time and demand a special approach to help a patient and guarantee at least slight improvement of his/her state. However, the negative impact of these illnesses could hardly be doubted as they deteriorate the quality of life and impact relations with other members of a social group and family.
Hypothesis
Resting on these facts, the main aim of this research paper is to determine the way chronic illnesses impact peoples social and family life and monitor the alterations of relations within a family. The works current hypothesis states that patients suffering from chronic diseases experience some significant changes that come from the nature of the illness in their social and family life. Moreover, the more serious a disease is, the more significant deterioration of the quality of life a patient might experience (Martire & Schulz, 2007). To prove this very statement, it is crucial to conduct a survey among people suffering from chronic diseases and obtain the credible data related to their life and relations with family members. It will also provide the basis for discussion and further cogitations related to the issue.
Methods
As stated above, a survey is chosen as the main tool to collect the credible data and provide reliable results. It is conducted among 47 patients suffering from various chronic diseases (15 severe and 32 mild illnesses). They were given a questionnaire to collect the needed data. Their answers were added to the table and used while making final conclusions. With this in mind, the nature of the research could be defined as mixed qualitative-quantitative as it obtains the numerical data and tends to trace the alterations of a certain quality. The chosen method contributes to the increased credibility of the given paper and conditions the acquisition of the data needed for the confirm or refute the above-mentioned hypothesis.
Results
Besides, in the course of the investigation, we obtain certain results. The participants provided their answers and helped to understand the way chronic diseases impact various aspects of their social and family life. Table 1 demonstrates the relation between illness and patients social life. Yet, the greater part of patients admitted significant changes in their daily regimen. They stated that illness introduced significant shifts in their everyday life activities and predestined the acquisition of new habits and behavioral patterns.
Table 1. Impact of illness on social life and relations within a family
Additionally, they also agreed that the attitude of common people towards them changed significantly. The given data proves the idea that chronic illness might have the great impact on social life and condition the appearance of new phenomena in their life.
Table 2. The impact of the severity of illness on the patients life
Therefore, Table 2 shows that the complexity and severity of illness are in the direct correlation with patients socialization. In other words, almost all patients who suffer from severe disease highlights the great problems with socialization.
Relations within a family are also impacted by the character of illness (Schaefer, 2012). Respondents admit that their family members could not but respond to the new challenge. There could be various motifs that condition the appearance of the altered attitude; however, there are still significant changes in the traditional family relations.
Moreover, patients participating in the survey highlighted the insignificant worsening of a family intercourse. It means that a chronic illness could be considered the factor that determines a well-being of any family and conditions the appearance of new behavioral patterns. At the same time, patients suffering from severe chronic diseases also have greater problems in socialization as the character of their illness predetermines the necessity to introduce a set of actions to mitigate the negative aftermath of this very disease.
Furthermore, the data collected with the help of the survey proves the great interdependence between patients social and family life. Those respondents who admitted problems with socialization and communication with common people also highlighted crucial alternations of the way their relatives communicate and care about them (see Table 1). For this reason, one realizes the fact a person suffering from any chronic disease could hardly avoid at least slight shift of priorities both in the family and social life. The severity of illness impacts the appearance of new habits and tendencies in their everyday life. The interdependence of these two spheres conditions the great effect a disease of this sort might have on the life of a patient and contributes to the increased importance of the creation of the appropriate response to this very problem.
Additionally, Table 1 shows that the majority of respondents experience psychological problems related to the character of their disease. Respondents might suffer from isolation and lack of understanding because of the new behavioral patterns that appear because of the character of a disease. They might be ashamed, embarrassed, etc. That is why the appearance of various psychological problems should be considered while creating the approach to these patients and trying to mitigate the negative impact of the above-mentioned illnesses. At the same time, these very psychological problems also evidence the fact that any patient suffers from a disease both physically and mentally. In this regard, there should obviously be consultations with a psychologist to avoid the further evolution of the problem and appearance of more complicated problems.
Finally, analyzing the collected data, it is possible to highlight the following results. First, all respondents admitted the great alteration of their social and family life. Additionally, they also state the existence of significant psychological problems that might impact the quality of their life and relations with a family. Furthermore, patients who suffer from severe chronic diseases are more subjected to the appearance of problems in all spheres of their life because of the serious effect the nature of the illness might have on their individuality. The given results provide the ground for the discussion related to the impact of chronic illness on family and help to prove the hypothesis. Yet, there are several important aspects that should be discussed.
Discussion
The above-mentioned data could help researchers to improve the issues comprehension and contribute to its precise analysis. Resting on this data, it is possible to make the following assumptions. First, a person suffering from any chronic disease could hardly avoid alteration of all spheres of his/her social and family life. The appearance of this shift of priorities is predetermined by the necessity to provide the appropriate care and help a patient to recover. A number of researches state that the efficiency of the recovery process and outcomes depend on the way treatment is provided (Sperry, 2007).
One realizes the fact that patients suffering from chronic diseases need some special approach to create the beneficial environment and mitigate its negative impact. The creation of these very conditions could be considered the prior task. At the same time, it affects the way a common family lives and behavioral patterns peculiar to it. The introduction of new demands will have the great effect on all family members and obviously change the habitual environment. In these regards, the mitigation of the negative influence of a chronic illness implies the creation of the appropriate environment, and it could not but impact the patients lives.
It is also obvious that the character of an illness predetermines the treatment needed to help a patient and the peculiarities of the environment that should have the beneficial impact on a patients state (Sperry, 2007). It means that a patient who suffers from a severe disease has the need in a specialized care and his/her family members should be ready to work hard to guarantee the provision of this very care. That is why there is the tendency towards the greater shifts in these patients lives and appearance of significant changes. Yet, Table 2 proves that all respondents suffering from severe chronic illnesses admit crucial problems in socialization, communication, and family affairs. For this reason, it is possible to say that this aspect is in the direct correlation with patients life and his/her relations within a family.
However, the results prove the existence of a certain problem and predetermine the necessity of its precise investigation. Yet, considering the social aspect of this issue, there are several perspectives that could be explored when analyzing it. Adhering to the functionalist approach which states that all aspects of society are interdependent, one realizes the fact that the shifts of priorities in a family could not but impact a patients social life (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2012).
The alteration of any of these spheres conditions the appearance of new tendencies and behavioral patterns that result in the significant changes in the above-mentioned aspects. For this reason, to mitigate the negative impact of a chronic disease, it is vital to impact both social and family spheres. Only under these conditions, it is possible to help a person and guarantee at least slight improvement of his/her quality of life.
Finally, it is necessary to introduce a certain set of actions needed to help an individual to avoid severe complications and recover from a disease. First, all family members should be explained that the appearance of new behavioral patterns and their importance for their close persons recovery (Frank, 2002). Yet, an individual suffering from a disease should also be provided with a psychological aid to help him/her recognize the inevitable character of these changes and the great importance of their acceptance.
In conclusion, the given research paper provides the detailed investigation of the impact a chronic disease might have on the family life of patients. It rests on the credible data obtained from the survey. It is created to collect the information needed for the investigation and discussion. A survey is conducted among 47 patients who suffer from both severe and mild chronic diseases.
They provide their answers and admit all changes that happen in their life. Analyzing the results of this very survey, it is possible to say that the above-mentioned hypothesis could be proven by numerous respondents and real-life examples. The discussion that comes after results revolves around the main factors that condition the appearance of the new behavioral patterns and habits. One should realize the fact that the necessity to create the beneficial environment could not be ignored by family members and results in the alteration of the habitual daily regimen. For this reason, both family and social spheres become impacted by a chronic disease.
References
Frank, A. (2002). Impact of chronic illness on the family.Journal of the royal society of medicine, 95(1), 57-58. Web.
Golics, C., Basra, M., Finlay, A., & Salek, S. (2013). The impact of disease on family members: a critical aspect of medical care.Journal of the royal society of medicine, 106(10), 399-407. Web.
Martire, L., & Schulz, R. (2007). Involving Family in Psychosocial Interventions for Chronic Illness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(2), 90-94. Web.
Mooney, L., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2012). Understanding Social Problems. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing.
Schaefer, R. (2012). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities.
Sperry, L. (2007). Utilizing a Family-Sensitive Cognitive Behavioral Intervention With Chronic Illness: The Impact of Family Dynamics and Therapy on Medical Symptoms.The Family Journal, 15(1), 56-61. Web.