Uncertainty of Social Network Members in the Case of Communication-Debilitating Illness or Injury

Abstract

Uncertainty is a consequential aspect of chronic illness for patients as well as their family and friends, yet little research has focused on how non-ill individuals experience uncertainty about the condition of someone in their social network. Thirty-one individuals with loved ones who had a communication-debilitating illness or injury (CDI) participated in one-on-one interviews about their experiences. We analyzed transcripts for participants' sources of uncertainty and for ways that they managed the uncertainty. Participants' experiences with uncertainty included questions about the condition itself and involved the impaired communication resulting from the CDI. Participants described managing uncertainty through information seeking, changing the ways they communicated with the person with the CDI, and creating schemata to help reduce uncertainty. We discuss the findings in terms of predominant conceptualizations of uncertainty in illness and address the prevalence of communication as both a significant source of uncertainty and an important means of managing uncertainty.