SOCIAL NETWORK AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT RECEIVED: AN EXPERIENCE OF MALAY MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN OF CANCER

Mothers of children with cancer require support from others in helping them to manage their experiences of having a child with cancer. A qualitative research design was employed to gain mothers’ perspectives on their experiences of caring for a child with cancer. Semi-structured interviews with 14 Malay mothers were taken place in a teaching hospital located in one urban area in Malaysia. The findings indicate that mothers’ grueling experiences are related to their social networks and these networks influenced the types of support received. The mothers described that they often received and expected help and support from family members, community, friends and neighbors as well as other parents with the same experience in the hospital ward. Support issues received from these social networks were also stressed by the majority of the mothers. As a conclusion, the study addresses the complexity of social support issues. The findings implicate for provision of systematic and integrated support services in counseling and social work practices.