Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
identified as beneficial to health. Similarly having friends and being
in an intimate relationship resonated with the sample especially in
regard to mental health as the following demonstrates;
‘… I think that what we see is a lot of people isolating themselves,
they don’t have any social network at all and then they would be
coming to the services with depression or a whole range of things
wrong with them because they have no support … and I think its
more their outlook, that they’re actually getting out there and
socialising and you have the support of friends and family that’s so
important –probably more important than medication can ever be.
Because without your social support you’re just left on your own
and left to your own device’ (general nurse). There is a telling
phrase here ‘… more important than medication can ever be’ which
underscores the importance of the social element of what actually
constitutes health.
At a later stage of the discussion the same student mentioned the
importance of income as being part of the social aspect of health
when she said; ‘… if you don’t have enough money you’re going to
be stressed if you’re constantly worrying about finances and
wondering you’re going to make it through the week –it’s going to
impact on your health, both physical and mental health. Because if
you’re constantly worrying you’re going to end up picking up
infections easier if you’re constantly stressed and worrying at the
end of the day it definitely has some impact’.
The importance of family and their ability to come to the rescue is
vividly recounted in the next quote which discusses how the family
unit can make a real and significant difference to living conditions.
‘… I was out with the public health nurse I saw a man living in a
house that you wouldn’t put a dog in –the water was pouring in on
top of him and everything was wet. His family were construction
workers so we just had to get on to them then and they bought him
a decent house, but his health was affected big time … he got
pneumonia and everything –understandable with the water pouring
in on top of him’. This quote supports the idea that social networks
and the family in particular have important functions to play in both
living conditions and health outcomes, although perhaps it should
be noted that not all families could afford such a generous gesture
as remarked upon in this example. Of course this example also
includes notions of well-being and is a concrete expression of being
loved by others which more than eight in ten of the sample thought
was an important aspect of what health means.
When discussing this aspect of health one respondent mentioned
that coping skills were important. The discussion at this time was
- 597 -