Support and Self-help Groups and Health

Abstract

This chapter concerns mutual aid, self-help (MASH) and support groups composed of people with a similar health concern who exchange a variety of types of support through face-to-face interaction, using their experiential knowledge to gain an understanding of their personal and collective predicament and of ways of coping with it. The main differences between MASH and support groups is that the latter have a fixed duration and are organized and led by professionals, whereas the former have an indefinite duration and are both governed and led by peers. After reviewing the types, functions, structural features, interpersonal processes, and extent of participation in these groups, evidence regarding their impacts on health and role functioning is considered. For support groups, evaluations reveal mixed effects, with the best outcomes occurring for groups of longer duration than the typical 6–10 sessions, and groups that provide skill training rather than information and discussion alone. Evaluation of MASH groups has mainly tapped participants' satisfaction, which tends to be high. Moreover, MASH groups are difficult to evaluate because they are not a uniform intervention, and many groups are strictly designed to augment participants' access to support rather than to improve health outcomes by augmenting support. The chapter calls for more research on the mechanisms underlying these groups' ameliorative and null effects, and on identifying subgroups of participants who benefit most and least from this type of psychosocial intervention.