Social Support in Cyberspace for Women with Chronic Illness

The Women to Women Project is designed to implement health promotion strategies delivered in a social context via a computer-based system to isolated rural women who have a chronic health condition. The purposes of this article are to describe the context and methodology of the program, to examine the women's reactions to participation, and to demonstrate domains of social support exhibited in the computer-based support group interactions. The participants are rural women, between the ages of 35 and 60, with a chronic condition (e.g., multiple sclerosis, cancer). The findings indicate that women can easily use the computer program and that few technical difficulties have been encountered. Support domains are clearly evident in the support group interactions. The women have been overwhelmingly positive about the project and share freely, giving advice and providing support.