Request pdf social support health and illness a complicated relationship when a person faces serious illness having the support of ones partner can help protect against the full ravages . Social support health and illness is an up to date analysis of how social support can either help or hinder recovery for patients a useful resource for clinical practitioners and researchers social support health and illness addresses the effects of intimate support on a wide variety of medical and psychiatric conditions including cancer . We recognize that the term physical illness covers an extraordinary array of conditions however our objective is to try and discern problems that may be common across the board factors such as the level of disability and parental health and a multitude of others influence the availability and effectiveness of social support. Social support in a kaptein j weinman health outcomes in a complicated and seemingly inconsistent manner this chapter presents an introduction to the relationship between social support and illness and death health is determined not only by biological but also by social and psychological factors