| Course | HW315 Models for Health and Wellness |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 8 |
| Paper type | Social support analysis |
| Length | About 870 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HW315 Unit 8
The First Glass Poured at Seven: A Unit 8 Social Support Analysis of One Woman's Network While She Cuts Back on Wine
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HW315: Models for Health and Wellness
Unit 8 Social Support Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The woman, her family and friends are composite; the support framework and the network and health studies cited are real.
The Change
Nicole, a composite 36-year-old pharmacy technician and mother of two, has been drinking two to three glasses of wine most weeknights for several years. After a routine physical in which her physician asked about alcohol, she decided to drink only on Friday and Saturday evenings. She has kept to the plan on about half of the weeknights in the six weeks since.
Network Map
Six people are close enough to affect the change. Placed around Nicole, with contact frequency shown in words rather than line styles:
1. Husband, Greg: daily contact, lives with her.
2. Sister, Andrea: weekly calls, monthly visits; stopped drinking eight years ago.
3. Coworker, Priya: daily at work.
4. Coworker, Dale: daily at work.
5. Close friend, Shannon: weekly, usually a Thursday evening out.
6. Neighbor, Mrs. Ortiz: a few times a week, over the fence.
The Framework
House (1981) described four types of social support: emotional support, meaning care, trust and empathy; instrumental support, meaning practical help; informational support, meaning advice and information; and appraisal support, meaning feedback that helps a person evaluate themselves. Because some relationships also make change harder, the matrix adds a fifth column for undermining. Social relationships carry real health weight: a meta-analysis found that people with stronger social ties had about a 50 percent greater likelihood of survival over the study periods (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010). The question here is narrower: which ties help this change and which hinder it.
Support Matrix
Each person is scored from 0 (none) to 3 (strong) on each type, and undermining is scored the same way.
1. Greg. Emotional 3, instrumental 2, informational 0, appraisal 1, undermining 3. Net effect: negative on this change.
2. Andrea. Emotional 2, instrumental 1, informational 3, appraisal 2, undermining 0. Net effect: strongly positive.
3. Priya. Emotional 1, instrumental 0, informational 0, appraisal 2, undermining 0. Net effect: positive.
4. Dale. Emotional 1, instrumental 0, informational 0, appraisal 0, undermining 1. Net effect: slightly negative.
5. Shannon. Emotional 3, instrumental 0, informational 0, appraisal 0, undermining 3. Net effect: negative on this change.
6. Mrs. Ortiz. Emotional 1, instrumental 1, informational 0, appraisal 0, undermining 0. Net effect: slightly positive.
The Surprising Rows
Greg. Greg is Nicole's strongest source of emotional support and does more than half the childcare. He also pours her first glass every evening at seven, after the children's baths, as a way of saying the hard part of the day is over. He is not trying to undermine her; he supports the change when asked. But the ritual is the single strongest cue for weeknight drinking in her life, and it arrives as love.
Greg's evening glass is both his kindest daily gesture and the strongest obstacle to Nicole's change, which is why a matrix that scored only support would miss the most important relationship in her network.
Shannon. Shannon is Nicole's closest friend and offers deep emotional support. Since the change, she has teased Nicole about becoming "no fun" and ordered a bottle for the table at their Thursday dinners. The teasing undermines appraisal: it tells Nicole that the new version of her is worse.
Andrea. Andrea stopped drinking years ago and has never once told Nicole what to do. When Nicole asked, Andrea offered specific, practical information, such as having a sparkling drink ready at seven and planning what to say at dinners out. She supplies the most useful information without offering advice unasked, which may be why Nicole trusts it.
Priya. Priya noticed Nicole looked more rested and said so, a small piece of appraisal support that Nicole mentioned twice.
Influence Beyond Support
Network research suggests drinking behavior spreads through relationships. In a large community cohort, changes in the drinking of a person's relatives and friends were associated with later changes in that person's drinking (Rosenquist et al., 2010). Nicole's most influential ties for this change are likely Greg and Shannon, through whom drinking is part of shared routines.
Ranking by Net Effect
1. Andrea: strongly positive.
2. Priya: positive.
3. Mrs. Ortiz: slightly positive.
4. Dale: slightly negative.
5. Shannon: negative.
6. Greg: negative on this change, though her most supportive relationship overall.
Implications
The analysis points away from adding new supporters and toward changing two existing rituals. With Greg, Nicole might ask him to keep the seven o'clock ritual but change what he pours, which preserves the kindness and removes the cue. With Shannon, she might suggest a different Thursday plan or tell her directly how the teasing lands. Andrea could be asked for more of what already works.
Limitations
The scores are judgments based on Nicole's account, and others in the network might describe their roles differently. The analysis concerns a change toward lower drinking, not a clinical problem; if Nicole found she could not cut back, that question would belong with her physician.
References
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), Article e1000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Addison-Wesley.
Rosenquist, J. N., Murabito, J., Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2010). The spread of alcohol consumption behavior in a large social network. Annals of Internal Medicine, 152(7), 426-433. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-152-7-201004060-00007
Reading the HW 315 Unit 8 instructions
The social support unit asks students to analyze the relationships around a person attempting a health change. Prompts usually expect a network description or map, a framework such as House's four support types, a matrix or table scoring each relationship, an interpretation and implications. Include everyone close enough to affect the change, at work and at home. Score each relationship on every support type rather than choosing one label per person. Add a way to record undermining, since some ties hinder change. Explain surprising rows in detail. Draw on research about how networks influence the behavior in question. Keep private details out and change anything identifying. Implications should follow from the matrix. Four to five pages is common.
Inside the HW315 Unit 8 example
A short description sets out the change and her progress. A network list places six people around her with contact frequency. A framework section defines the four support types and adds the undermining column, citing a meta-analysis on social ties and survival. The matrix scores each person from zero to three on all five columns with a net effect. Surprising rows get their own paragraphs: her husband's evening ritual, her friend's teasing, her sister's unasked-for restraint and a coworker's comment about looking rested. The highlighted sentence explains why a support-only matrix would miss the most important relationship. A cohort study on how drinking spreads through networks follows, then a ranking, implications and limitations.
Reading the HW315 Unit 8 grading rubric
In HW315, support analyses earn their points through four things: the framework applied correctly, rows interpreted in depth, network evidence and implications that follow. Accuracy means each support type is understood and scored with reasons. Interpretation is strongest when it explains mixed relationships rather than sorting people into helpers and hinderers. Evidence on networks and the behavior earns points under scholarly support. Implications should follow from specific rows of the matrix. Clear presentation of the map and matrix, APA citations and respect for privacy complete the rubric. Analyses that list supporters without scoring each type, or that ignore undermining, generally score lower on interpretation.
HW315 Unit 8 help from the desk
Support analyses often stop at a list of who is nice to the person, which misses the point of the framework. Another weakness is giving each relationship one label instead of scoring it on every support type. Students frequently overlook how a supportive person can sustain the very routine the person wants to change. Coworkers and neighbors are sometimes left out entirely. Implications tend to recommend finding new supporters rather than adjusting existing relationships. Some papers include real names. If you are mapping a network for this unit and are unsure how to score mixed relationships, list the people around your subject and what each does on an ordinary day, and our team will score them so help and hindrance both show.
Get an HW315 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
Who surrounds the individual described for Unit 8, and how does each of them touch the behavior? Send the case, or a case drawn from your own life with names removed, plus the rubric. The analysis maps the network, scores each relationship by support type and undermining, and treats routines as nodes too. It is back within 24-48h, first sample free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HW315 Unit 8 questions, answered
Can one person be both a support and a hindrance?
Often, and the analysis is stronger for showing it. A partner can give real emotional support while sustaining a routine that works against the goal. Scoring each relationship on several dimensions, rather than labeling it good or bad, captures that mix. The net judgment then weighs which effect matters more for this particular change. Instructors generally credit that nuance.
Which framework should a social support analysis use?
Whatever the course text presents, often House's four types of support, sometimes alongside a social network or ecological model. Citing the framework and using its categories consistently matters more than which one is chosen. Adding a concept such as social undermining or invisible support is usually welcome when the case calls for it, with a source.
How should the analysis handle private details about real people?
Keep them out. Use roles instead of names, such as partner or coworker, and change identifying details if the case comes from your own life. The analysis needs patterns of contact and effect, not biographies. Where a real relationship is sensitive, a composite built from it protects everyone and still supports a rigorous analysis. Graders expect that discretion.
Where can I find a free HW315 Unit 8 sample paper?
This page presents a complete Unit 8 social support analysis of a woman cutting back on weeknight wine, with a network list, a scored matrix, margin notes and APA references.
How can a husband be both her strongest support and her biggest obstacle?
He gives the most emotional and practical help, but his kind evening ritual of pouring her first glass is the strongest cue for the drinking she wants to change. The analysis keeps both facts in view.