In our last #SocialCareSeries, we broke down formal barriers to accessing social services. Bureaucratic hurdles, information gaps, and identity-based discrimination often determine whether individuals can successfully navigate formal support networks such as government programs, social service organizations, and nonprofits. However, even when resources are available, many people struggle to reach out for help, and this hesitation is often less visible. These challenges function as invisible walls, not visible from the outside, but deeply felt by those trying to move through them.
Researchers at the Northwestern Network for Social Impact (NNSI) have found that, in addition to formal barriers, informal barriers of stigma, social isolation, and the fear of burdening others play a significant role in accessing social support.
Understanding these emotional and interpersonal barriers can help design more compassionate, human-centered systems of care.
1. Stigma
Stigma is the most discussed barrier to seeking help across both formal and informal channels. Deeply rooted in cultural ideas about hard work and personal responsibility, struggling to meet basic needs such as food or housing is often seen as a personal failure rather than systemic inequities. This perception of judgment can lead individuals to experience intense feelings of shame, humiliation, and embarrassment when seeking help. Some participants felt they would be looked down on after opening up to someone about their struggles and hardships.
2. Social Isolation
Even when individuals manage to move past the shame of seeking help, they often run into another significant barrier: social isolation. This isolation makes it difficult even to identify someone who could step in and provide support. While formal systems can be complex to navigate, friends, relatives, and neighbors are supposed to be a safety net to fall back on. But for many Americans, that net isn’t there. Participants described feeling isolated, either geographically or emotionally estranged from their networks, or simply lacking existing networks to turn to for support. This problem is only exacerbated as recent data revealed that nearly half of Americans reported having fewer than three friends in 2021, underscoring how widespread disconnection has become. Informal support was simply not an option.
3. Fear of Burdening Others
Another emotional barrier linked to stigma was the fear of burdening others, often tied to the idea of reciprocity. Participants hesitated to ask for help because they felt they would need to return the favor in the future. For individuals and families who are already stretched thin, that expectation can create even more stress. One participant stated, “I feel bad asking for help… just having to return a favor is gonna be hard.” When individuals can’t reciprocate, they may find themselves excluded from their social networks and further cut off from their social networks of support.
Tackling informal barriers requires more than administrative reform. It requires trust, empathy, and intentional relationship building. Stigma, social isolation, and the fear of burdening others are human realities that cannot be resolved solely through policy. Instead, they must be met with human-centered design and approaches that listen to people’s stories, recognize emotional landscapes, and build systems that provide respect and care.
At NNSI, we recognize that the challenges people face when seeking help are crucial for creating effective networks among organizations. A human-centered approach can help providers design better health and human service networks. People seeking help are never failures and are, in fact, putting in a ton of work to better their situations and improve their livelihoods. By understanding the informal barriers to accessing social services, we emphasize the importance of having empathy towards those seeking assistance to create more compassionate and equitable support systems for all.
Written by Jenna Jeon (Class of ’27)