Social support is the emotional support, practical help, advice and other benefits you get from interactions with your co-survivors. Co-survivors may include:

Co-survivors give support in many different ways. For example, an oncologist provides information, hope and advice regarding your diagnosis and treatment and what you are experiencing. Friends and family may give practical help, like offering rides to and from treatments or helping with cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, child care and looking up information on the Internet. Your boss may even help you find ways to balance your job and treatment schedule.

Your co-survivors can give emotional support that helps boost your sense of self-worth and help you feel loved, cared for and understood. Social support may be as informal as a sympathetic ear of a family member or close friend, or as formal as a survivors’ support group or seeing a therapist.

Source:

Susan G. Komen, 2023. Social Support.