117 Patients’ and volunteers’ experiences with a social network intervention 4 situations. After FNC, several coaches noticed an increased understanding in patients’ lives and behaviors. "Yes, you do learn to look at certain things very differently, I think. I live in a world with [fellow employees] and everyone has a house, a wife, and children, you do end up in a different world and that's why you look at some things very differently. And in that respect you do learn a lot from it." – coach 039. Some coaches expressed their amazement after being exposed to the living conditions of patients, for example polluted and messy houses, or the fact that a patient had to live on 50 euros a week. Some coaches became less judgmental, realizing that bad things can happen to anyone. Additionally, some coaches became more aware of their privileged situations and started to appreciate certain aspects of their lives more, for example their house, career achievements, and social bonds. Some coaches mentioned sharing their experiences with relatives, which resulted in a broadening of worldviews among relatives. Whilst the majority of coaches considered the contact between two people with different lives or backgrounds an interesting and meaningful experience, these views were to a lesser extent echoed by patients. However, some coaches indicated that patients were also curious to learn about their lives. One coach even invited the patient to visit him at his house. "[I] don't know if he looked up to me, I don't know if he was curious about how I live. I think so, he did indicate that he would like to see in what kind of house I live and what I do for work and how I got a job and so on, he was curious about that, so I think he looked up to me a little bit, I think he liked me, that he liked me as a coach, from the beginning." – coach 026. Although the overall perception of both patients and coaches was that nothing substantially changed in patients’ social situations, some participants indicated that patients gained a more positive view of other people and society and exhibited less rebellious behaviors. Sense of fulfillment and purpose Multiple coaches indicated that they expected developing a social bond with a patient to be challenging, which preempted their interest in participating in FNC. Participation in FNC would also give them the opportunity to become personally acquainted with other populations in society, and to help individuals as well as society. Altogether, it was often suggested by coaches that participation in FNC contributed to a sense of fulfillment and
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw