113 Patients’ and volunteers’ experiences with a social network intervention 4 Theme 3: receiving social support “Someone who is there for you” – patient 020 A common experience amongst patients who were matched (i.e., low and high compliance group) was the provision of social support by coaches in FNC. Moreover, the expectation that coaches could provide support was reported by some patients who were not matched to a coach (i.e., no compliance group). Coaches expressed providing four types of social support, which were also generally perceived by patients: (1) informational support, (2) emotional support, (3) instrumental support, and (4) companionship support. Informational support Coaches demonstrated providing guidance and information regarding problems, practical issues, or behaviors of patients. They suggested that coaching could point patients in the right direction or prompt them to think about other perspectives and behaviors. Several patients echoed these experiences. Patients indicated receiving guidance and information from coaches, which motivated and activated them to engage in social interactions and reflect on their behavior. "…He came to me with good things, and he doesn't want anything from me. You know so I'm more likely to take things from him than probably anyone else. [...] If something is bothering me, then he sends me, possibilities to, yes to try and solve it. [...] Yes then he might say that he or his friend also went through something similar and then I ask [him]: ‘How did you do it?’ and then he explains [it] to me [...]." – patient 013. Some patients indicated that they had developed other perspectives. However, the majority of participants wondered whether the guidance and information would actually lead to distinct changes, such as different thoughts and behaviors. One coach indicated that a patient had asked for assistance during appointments with formal agencies, partly because of the expertise of the coach. In this situation, the coach mentioned it was important to clearly address limitations and boundaries with a patient to maintain an informal source of support. Emotional support Most patients and coaches indicated having good conversations with each other. It was often stated that patients were encouraged and felt free to talk about personal difficulties, which helped to release negative feelings. Patients’ responses demonstrated that these conversations also led to positive feelings.
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