 During a stressful experience such as cancer diagnosis, social connections can provide valuable emotional and practical support.Research in the broader field of Health Psychology has revealed significant influences of social support on the psychological well-being of individuals as well as associations with disease processes, particularly in cardiovascular disease.Patients undergoing treatment for cancer often rely on a social support network of varying size, including spouses, children, friends and other family, to support them through difficult treatments and functional impairment.