Page 91 - 5th APA Conference Program Book Final

data set includes measures of demographic and socio-economic status, the occurrence of civil violence, mental
strength, happiness, and community and family support. The structural equation model reveals a resilience
process where violence in the village appears to stimulate mental strength directly and that family and community
support also have a significant and isolated positive impact on mental strength and level of happiness among the
respondents. In conclusion, violence can independently induce the process of resilience by activating mental
strength. Family and community supports are also found to be strong determinants of mental capacity and
happiness. Social policies to restore wellbeing of people in the vulnerable community are discussed.

Keywords: resilience, mental strength, happiness, civil violence, community support, family support

1325 Psycho-social Support is indispensable to cure Cancer patients: Experiences of
patients across India

2
Manasi Bawdekar , Ruby Ahluwalia
1
2
1 Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai, India. Sanjeevani Life beyond Cancer, Mumbai, India
Categories

10. Special population groups (Youth, Persons with Disability, etc.)

Abstract

The context of cancer care in India is characterized by swelling incidence rates, late detection, and lack of access to
affordable quality care resulting in high mortality rates. Medical treatment still remains the only dependable line of
treatment for cancer patients. Unfortunately, need of psycho-social support to deal with this life threatening and
traumatic illness remains completely ignored. This paper emphasizes this need as enunciated by 350 cancer
patients suffering from different types of cancer at varying stages of the illness across different cities of India.
Provision of emotional and social support through counseling and hand-holding was unanimously affirmed by the
cancer patients themselves. It greatly helped them reduce their fears and anxieties, instill back self-confidence
about their survival and change their outlook towards this seemingly fatal disease. The psycho-social support
directly affected their treatment continuation and pace of recovery as clearly asserted by their family members and
medical experts. Integrating psycho-social support into the medical treatment protocol is the need of the hour for
better management of the illness with enhanced coping at all levels-physical, emotional and mental leading to
improved survival rates.

Special Session 2 - IPUMS “Data Usage for SDG

Tracking and COVID-19 Research”

11:00am - 12:30pm Thursday, 5th August, 2021

Presentation Type LIVE Session
Moderator: Jane Lee
Speakers: Lara Cleveland and Sula Sarkar

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