Family social support: toward a conceptual model

Nursing clinical assessment and empirical investigations of the social support resources available to families are hampered by the lack of theoretical bases regarding the family social support process. This article presents a preliminary conceptual model of family social support in the interest of stimulating discussion and further development. Assumptions of the model are presented, family characteristics and interaction processes are identified, and propositional statements are derived from the model. The model proposes that social support is not an outcome or a resource but a process of interaction through which the family develops versatility and resourcefulness in identifying and using resources available in its environment. The conceptual model presents family social support as a process of relationships between the family and its social environment.