Perceived Social Support and Associated Factors among Caregivers of Individuals with Heart Failure: A Convergent Mixed Methods Study
Table 4
Joint display of quantitative data on domains of social support and qualitative findings.
Quantitative inferences
Qualitative inferences
Mixed methods metainferences
Inference 1: caregivers indicated increased family support available during the caregiving of their relatives with heart failure
Inference 1: caregivers noted that presence of a familial network for moral support and tangible assistance in caregiving enhanced their sense of social support
Confirmed: presence of strong familial network was perceived to enhance social support of caregivers of individuals with heart failure
Data evidence: caregivers reported high scores on the family subscale of MSPSS (mean 5.51, SD 6.0)
Data evidence: “I have my daughter who is an incredible help. She has helped me make important decisions to deal with many situations such as dad’s illness and dealing with mum’s situation” (Italian woman, 55 age)
Inference 2: caregivers recognized the importance of friends as an element of increased perceived social support
No qualitative data
Discordant: presence of friends was considered important for social support in quantitative data, but in their interviews, friends were not identified as an element of increased sense of social support
Data evidence: caregivers reported moderate scores on the friends subscale of MSPSS (mean 4.00, SD 4.5)
