Introduction:

Cancer is recognized as a universal problem that affects people of any age, gender, culture, and economic situation; in addition, it imposes strong financial and social burdens for the patient as well as for the family. The objective was to determine the social support perceived in chronic disease in family caretakers of individuals being treated against cancer.

Materials and Methods:

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study, with interviews of 75 family caretakers of individuals being treated against cancer who were applied the instrument "Social support perceived in chronic disease". The analysis was performed through descriptive statistics and stratification of the perceived support social scale.

Results:

Family caretakers are mostly women from socioeconomic levels 1 and 2, with incomplete primary education (37.3%); regarding marital status, 66.7% reported being married or in a common-law relationship; 50.7% were housekeepers, with a median of 18 hours of care. Family caretakers have a mean perception of the social support perceived of 36%. The instrument’s subscales report mean scores in personal interaction (42.7%), guide (40%), feedback (41.3%) tangible help (28%), and social interaction (45.3%).

Discussion:

It is deemed necessary to address social support from a holistic perspective, where the interrelations of physical and emotional health, family, and social functioning respond to the needs of family caretakers.

Conclusions:

Social support is known for being the biggest and most powerful force that facilitates success when individuals and their caregivers are threatened by cancer.

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