Self-help Process Research Articles

The Adoption of a “Diseased Identity” in Traditional 12-Step Groups: Exploring the Implications of These Processes for Individuals and Practitioners in Health and Social Care Services

Self-help groups are increasingly utilised by communities of interest and shared experience, services, and government departments as platforms for supporting and improving health and social care outcomes for drug and alcohol users. Traditional 12-step self-help groups like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous (NA and AA) are worldwide organisations and each have their own programme of change, language, criteria for membership, processes for problem resolution, and self-transformation. Within these types of groups, members are openly encouraged to identify with and adopt an (diseased) identity that is consistently invoked to work on the self. In the self-help recovery literature, it is widely recognised that individuals can benefit by thinking about themselves as “diseased” and then acting and behaving in a manner which is congruent with their reframed “identity”. Less is known about the processes involved in this and social-, psychological-, and health-related implications for individuals in drug- and alcohol-specific self-help groups. A thematic analysis of data from (n-36) in-depth qualitative interviews with long-term (6 months–10 years) self-help users identified four themes associated with the adoption of a diseased identity and self-help group processes: (1) normalising the disease and illness; (2) identifying as diseased; (3) living as a diseased individual; and (4) one addict helping another addict. The results of this research should not be interpretated as a critique of the 12-step approach or groups. Instead, it should be recognised that whilst improvements to individual wellbeing are reported, identifying as diseased can exacerbate negative self-perceptions that individuals hold about themselves, their character, capabilities, and ability. Being diseased, accepting disease, and identifying as diseased also has the potential to inhibit their engagement with wider social networks and professional services outside of their own fellowship or group. We conclude this paper by exploring the implications of a “diseased identity” and self-help processes for individuals who access self-help groups, and health and social care practitioners who support self-help users as they engage with services and self-help groups.

Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Government Communication And Empowerment For Traditional Fishpond Farmers On The North Aceh Coast

Research to determine, describe and analyze the effectiveness, transparency and accuracy of government communication and empowerment for Traditional Pond Farmers on the coast of North Aceh, Aceh province. Utilizing all communication media effectively, creatively and innovatively in strengthening partnerships and collaboration; government, pond farmers, coastal institutions and other stakeholders. Becoming a new paradigm and perspective in development and empowerment with the spirit of voicing the voiceless. In revealing the socio-economic capital of traditional pond farmers. The presence of government communication, development communication and empowerment to contribute to the development and empowerment process, diffusion of innovation and communication technology. The phenomenon of helplessness of traditional pond farmers in North Aceh is an illustration of the still weak effectiveness of government communication, development communication, empowerment and human-centered social change. This research uses a phenomenological paradigm with theoretical foundations and concepts from the perspective of government communication, social development communication, empowerment communication, communicative action, social welfare, social capital, local wisdom, coastal areas and traditional pond farmers. Data is collected through interviews, observation, focus group discussions, literature review or documentation. The results of the research show that changes in the mindset of traditional pond farmers will lead to different behavior patterns than before. In this process of change, it can be seen that there is a self-help process to get out of the stigma of being poor and marginalized. The development and empowerment process should show empowerment, participation, collaborative communication that can lead to a condition of life for pond farmers based on mutually agreed values, norms, customs, culture and local wisdom capable of strengthening social welfare and social capital. Development and empowerment must be understood as a process with multiple dimensions, involving major changes in social structures, social institutions, attitudes, minimizing inequality, marginalization and absolute poverty. There needs to be a paradigm shift from a capitalist market mechanism system to upholding nationalist values ​​with human- centered development practices. Including strengthening togetherness, harmonization, solidarity and strengthening collective self-empowerment. So that the effectiveness of government communication, development and empowerment of traditional pond farmers must be prepared based on initiative, participation, orientation to needs, potential and capabilities while still paying attention to the institutional dynamics therein.

Penerapan Self Help Menggunakan Ayat-ayat al-Qur’an (Studi Naratif Menghadapi Jatuh Cinta dan Patah Hati)

Mental health is currently a growing issue in Indonesia. Mental health is a balanced state and the achievement of individual development tasks. Individuals who are facing poor mental health will develop self-narratives that tend to be destructive. Self-narrative is an individual's life story consisting of values, experiences and identities that are internalized into a belief and personality. Self-destructive narratives affect individual development. Problems that are closely related to depression experienced by individuals are falling in love and heartbreak. These problems provide stress effects to depression to individuals. Depression contributes the greatest value to suicide rates. The method used is qualitative research with narrative approach. The subject strengthens his inner values through the study of the verses of the Qur'an and self-evaluation in a series of self-help processes. Self help consists of the process of understanding the values of life in the verses of the Qur'an, evaluating relationships with the Almighty and preparing for the worst. The subject has a perspective and meaning related to falling in love and broken heart experienced and internalized into self-narration. Self-narration is developed based on the results of self-help that is done so that it can bring up new meanings in life.

Practicing in a person-centred environment – self-help groups in psycho-social rehabilitation

Aim The increasing prevalence of chronic conditions and impairments in the population is putting new demands on health and rehabilitation services. Research on self-help groups suggest that participation in these groups might have a positive impact on people who are struggling with chronic illnesses or disabilities. In this study, we explore person-centred support in which participants in self-help groups are undergoing rehabilitation to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to handle life’s challenges. Method The design is exploratory, analysing data from informant interviews and focus groups (a total of 32 participants) using a Grounded Theory inspired approach to analyse. The participants were rehabilitation clients aged between 20 and 60 years; eight were men and twenty-six were women. Results Three main categories emerged as being important self-help processes that were likely to promote positive rehabilitation outcomes: (1) Learning and practicing safely, (2) A refuge from expectations, (3) Internal processes that accentuate the positives. Conclusion Peer support delivered through the structured self-help environment can facilitate the development of new self-awareness, promote acceptance and adjustment, facilitate the establishment of new skills and enable transfer of learning to new environments, including the workplace. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Self-help groups may support the process of rehabilitation. Participating in self-help groups provides an enabling context for individuals to address challenges and limitations. Peer support delivered through the structured self-help environment can facilitate the development of new self-awareness, promote adjustment, and facilitate the establishment of new skills. Participating in peer led self-help groups can assist with the transfer of learning to new environments, including development of potential work capacity.

Empowering self-help groups for caregivers of children with disabilities in Kilifi, Kenya: Impacts and their underlying mechanisms.

Bringing up a child with disabilities in a low-income setting is challenged by inadequate resources, limited psycho-social support and poverty. Not surprisingly, many caregivers experience fatigue, distress and isolation. To address and investigate these issues, action was taken to set up twenty self-help groups focusing on caregiver empowerment. A realist evaluation design was adopted to evaluate impacts associated with the self-help process and to identify mechanisms determining the outcomes. Monthly monitoring visits were conducted to the groups during a ten-month set-up period, at the end of which eleven active groups remained, nine having dissolved due to disputes, corruption and extreme environmental conditions. A facilitated intervention was delivered to the active groups (N = 154) over a six-month period. The members were guided to review and discuss topics such as economic empowerment, personal situation, peer support, community inclusion, access to health and education. Evaluation employed mixed methods using questionnaires (n = 75) and semi-structured interviews (n = 36) pre- and post-intervention. At baseline, the burden of caregiving was characterised by aloneness, challenges, stigma and discrimination. Post-intervention, caregiver agency was defined by togetherness, capacity-building, acceptance and well-being. Significant impacts associated with caregiver perceptions included increased social support, reduced severity of child’s disability and decreased effects of extrinsic factors affecting the caregiver’s role. Mechanisms of ‘handling goods and money’ and ‘social ties and support’ appeared to underpin the outcomes. Caregiver empowerment was associated with newly developed skills, social connectedness and resource mobilisation. Documentation of group processes contributes to the evidence on community-based inclusive development.

Santa Marta Urban Grammar: Unraveling the spontaneous occupation of Brazilian informal settlements

The World experiences a significant growth in population coupled with fast urbanization processes particularly in the Southern hemisphere, which puts an enormous pressure on cities, giving rise to numerous social, infrastructural, ecological, and urban problems. In this context, the formal sector is often unable to provide adequate housing for this growing population who resorts to self-help processes that lead to informal settlements. This paper focuses on the development of an analytical shape grammar for Santa Marta, the iconic settlement used as a critical case study, whose rules describe the generation of the self-constructed urban fabric. The methodology includes an analysis of the built shape and the physical urban relations. The resulting model is a shape grammar that recreates the urban fabric of Santa Marta. Future work includes the evaluation of the settlement’s urban space and the corresponding transformation of the analytic grammar to generate a synthetic grammar for planning new housing settlements.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) experiences: an ethnographic approach to their expression on the Internet forums.

This contribution aims at describing the experiences of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) as discussed on Internet forums. Since the 2000s, increasing attention has been paid to health practices associated with the use of the Internet, whether by medical professionals, public authorities or researchers in the social sciences. We know that Internet is used by patients with Parkinson's disease, in order to discuss about their lived experiences. This contribution will present how these Internet users address the specific theme of DBS. We will examine how their use and the information sharing associated to it participate in the "shaping" of the lived experience of deep cerebral stimulation. This contribution will be introduced by an analysis of the state-of-the-art in sociological and anthropological international research on the topic of "Internet health". On the basis of this analysis, it will propose a framework to describe and understand the various uses of the web that are made to give an account of the experience of stimulation. The existence of collective mobilizations in Parkinson's disease, an old Internet experience and media oppositions concerning certain antiparkinsonian drugs, are conditions which push us to question these themes concerning DBS. This paper is a description, for the first time, of roles played by the users of these Internet forums and the different online activities produced about DBS subject. In an ethnographic perspective, we had to imagine that we were an Internet user seeking patient experiences with this surgical procedure to understand these interactions about DBS. The main goal of this contribution is to describe the attention paid by users for medical information about DBS in the identity and self-help process. The interest of such an approach is to open an anthropological reflection on the place and the role of the medical representations in the testimonies of experience of the disease or the treatments.

Free Medical Innovation by Patients – No Producers Required

Today, medical patients are increasingly able to develop sophisticated medical device and service innovations to serve their own needs – no producers required. This “free” self-help innovation process greatly benefits medical patients - they can build and use important medical advances that are not commercially available. Patient innovation also can greatly benefit managers of medical producer firms. For them, patient DIY innovation is a form of “free R&D” that can inform and amplify their in-house development efforts. In this brief article we will start with two examples of important, patient-developed medical product and service innovations. Next, we will explain how free patient innovation both complements and supports producer innovation – and how and why it works. Finally, we will explain that essentially the same innovation patterns and lessons apply across all consumer goods fields.

Harnessing the Power of a Student’s Mind by Practicing NLP Techniques in Classrooms

Harnessing the power of the mind has led to the popularity of alternative approaches to personal development and communication. One of these methods is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which was initiated as a self-help process. In a dynamic teacher-learner relationship, meaning is achieved through mutual feedback. All communication potentially influences learning. Teachers’ language and behavior crucially influence learners on at least two levels: Their understanding of the topic in question and their beliefs about the world, including about learning. Teachers’ awareness of their behavior and choice of words, and how sensitive they are to the influence of such words and behavior on learners, are vital to making the teaching and learning processes effective. Thus, the advocates of Neuro-linguistic programming are attempting to bridge the gap between neuro-linguistic programming and the academic community. This paper discusses NLP not as a business, but as phenomenology, or what happens subjectively inside the learning mind, various techniques to bind the power of mind, hoping the NLP ideas here will find their way into more and more classrooms.

Informal economies, conflict recovery and absent aid

This paper addresses the issue of what happens in the aftermath of conflict when humanitarian response is absent, to see how “self-help” recovery can inform development assistance paradigms and practice. We explore livelihoods strategies and community-led recovery processes in the context of conflict in Somaliland, a region that experienced an acutely disruptive conflict and an absence of humanitarian aid, to evaluate the economic recovery that emerged. The conflict is tracked through perceptions and recollections of those who lived through the disaster: the bombing of Hargeisa in 1988 that flattened the city, the declaration of a semi-autonomous nation in 1991, and its subsequent development over the last 25 years. This critical case study aims to inform the humanitarian assistance agenda in relation to livelihoods as a self-help process in post-conflict recovery.

A comparative study of guided vs. pure self-treatment for premature ejaculation

ABSTRACTSelf-treatments have previously shown some efficacy in treating premature ejaculation (PE). It has been hypothesized that adding professional support to cognitive-behaviour bibliotherapy could improve self-treatment outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare treatment outcomes for participants with PE who used bibliotherapy alone (pure self-treatment) versus those who used the bibliotherapy with brief support from a health professional (guided self-treatment). Health professionals were not experienced sex therapists, but had attended a short training session in order to equip them to support the self-help process. In total, 135 men reporting difficulties with PE were recruited between February and June 2013. Seventy-one (52.59%) completed the protocol: 37 in the pure self-treatment condition, 34 in the guided self-treatment condition. Thirty-five participants (50%) met criteria for ISSM definition of lifelong PE, 14 (20%) for acquired PE, and 22 (30%) presented other forms of PE complaints. At 4–8 months post-treatment, improvements were found in both groups and in each subtype of PE on self-reported measures of sexual functioning and sexual cognitions. Univariate analyses indicated slightly greater treatment effects in the guided self-treatment group, but multivariate tests failed to identify a significant effect of therapist support. These mixed findings raise questions regarding the amount and quality of therapist input used in this study, and also about a possible ceiling effect of cognitive-behaviour therapy for PE.

The Nature and Extent of Self-Help Housing in Texas

Despite regulatory efforts in Texas aimed at preventing the spread of “colonias”—self-help settlements with inadequate water and wastewater infrastructure—since the early 1990s hundreds of new self-help “model subdivisions” have formed throughout the state. Using aerial photography and parcel-level property records, I provide the first systematic analysis of these subdivisions. Their proliferation poses considerable challenges for local planners, and although most model subdivisions appear to have basic infrastructure, housing conditions are exceedingly poor because of the protracted nature of the self-help process. The study highlights the need for renewed attention by scholars, policymakers, and planners toward self-help settlements in Texas.

Preferences and perspectives of sustainability in informal Roma settlements

The intent of the article is to highlight the fact that Roma micro-environments contain as part of their context certain social and cultural premises, embodied in spatial forms and informal settlement construction manners that all together correspond with the principles of sustainable architecture. Methodologically, the article begins with the idea that the informal Roma settlements were built by the Romani, without an explicit professional influence and represent a quality induced by the need to functionally organize a community where everyday activities take place. Hence, the physical entities and the construction techniques in the settlements are the objects of research on knowledge and skills of a community in which the individuals are connected horizontally and hierarchically and can thus achieve positive relations inevitable for such realization. In that manner, it is possible to systematize inside a settlement a base of characters of physical structure as completed individual and group knowledge and potentials for further, acceptable advancements in that area of construction. The purpose of the paper is in drawing the attention to very concrete resources of the Roma community which should, with a gradual increase of capacities, be taken into account during the realization of the projects themselves and during the organized self-build and self-help processes as well as the process of housing condition advancement in the settlements. In a broader sense, the reduction of cost for the Romani has the potential to reduce a social distance towards them, especially in the Western Balkans where a significant portion of the population faces the same financial limits when it comes to housing advancement.

Percepciones de adolescentes drogodependientes frente al modelo de comunidad terapéutica

<p align="left">Este artículo es producto de una investigación cualitativa, que tiene como propósito describir las percepciones de los adolescentes residentes en una comunidad terapéutica durante su proceso de rehabilitación. La metodología utilizada partió de la revisión de literatura relacionada con el concepto de comunidad terapéutica y su impacto en el proceso de rehabilitación en adolescentes drogodependientes. Además se recolectó información en una comunidad terapéutica colombiana, mediante la realización de entrevistas a profundidad, observaciones y un grupo de discusión.</p><p align="left">Los resultados evidencian que la comunidad terapéutica es un espacio de encuentro personal, estructurado bajo el autocontrol y el afecto, dado que los adolescentes reconocen que este espacio favorece el fortalecimiento de vínculos afectivos, familiares y sociales a partir de la resignificación de sus problemáticas emocionales y de la adicción. También consideran que les permite la reconfiguración de sus proyectos de vida, así como el desarrollo de habilidades sociales para su integración a la comunidad de origen. Finalmente, se concluye que el modelo terapéutico – educativo posibilita la resocialización mediante procesos de identificación y formación, desarrollado por etapas, rutinas, tareas, valores y procesos de autoayuda vividos en el hogar de residencia.</p>

The role of self-help efforts in the reintegration of ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners: implications from the Northern Irish experience

Self-help (or mutual aid) processes play a substantial role in the reintegration of stigmatized individuals, in particular, a substantial self-help movement has developed around addiction recovery. Prisoners and ex-prisoners have also established self-help groups around the world. This paper focuses in particular on the role of self-help principles and practices among “politically motivated” former prisoners from all sides of the Northern Irish conflict. The concept of self-help and its application to former prisoners are analysed theoretically, then applied to the Northern Irish case study through a series of interviews with ex-prisoners whose incarceration has been related to the conflict in Northern Ireland. We draw on the implications of this case study for wider issues of reintegration for politically motivated and ordinary prisoners.

Consumer Evaluation of Dual Focus Mutual Aid

ABSTRACT Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR) is a “dual focus,” 12 step-based mutual aid program tailored to assist recovery from co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders. Objective: To determine consumers' perceptions of DTR's usefulness for their recoveries and the relationships between perceived DTR usefulness and self-help processes, self-efficacy to cope with problems in recovery, and changes in behaviors conducive to dual recovery. Methods: Consumers attending DTR groups, located within a psychiatric day-treatment program, completed anonymous surveys 8 months (N = 19) and 20 months (N = 61) after DTR was implemented. Results: DTR participants rated DTR favorably and length of DTR attendance was significantly associated with increased self-efficacy for recovery and positive changes in recovery-oriented behaviors. Perceived DTR usefulness was significantly associated with greater engagement in three specific self-help processes and increased self-efficacy for recovery; notably, these associations were independent of consumers' overall satisfaction with the treatment program. Conclusion: This study is the first to document consumers' perceived usefulness of DTR in relation to indicators of recovery. Overall, the study provides additional evidence for the benefits of implementing consumer-led dual focus groups in treatment programs.

Effect of Aquatic Exercise Program on Pain, Fatigue, Body Composition, Physical Fitness and Psychological Variables in Women with Arthritis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aquatic exercise on pain, fatigue, body composition, physical fitness and psychological variables in women with arthritis. Method: With a quasi-experimental design, 37 women who had arthritis were assigned into an experimental group (n=19) or a control group (n=18). Aquatic exercise consisted of one hour of exercise in water, two days per week, for six weeks and a self-help process. Measures included physiologic and psychological variables before and after the exercise. Data was analyzed with the SPSS WIN using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANCOVA. Result: The mean age of the subjects was 59 years in the experimental group and 52 years in the control group. Pretest scores in outcome variables were similar in both groups except BMI and body fat(%). After controlling for age, shoulder flexibility scores in the experimental group improved more than the control group (Rt: F=10.58, p=.003; Lt: F=5.91, p= .02;

Reproducing Tradition: Everyday Public Space in Popular Neighbourhoods in Mexico

In Latin American cities a great part of the urban environment has grown through self-help processes leading to informal settlements. In the Mexican context, informal settlements are called “colonias populares” which means people’s or popular neighbourhoods. In the late 1960s Turner (1969) argued that popular neighbourhoods should be reconsidered as environments which are socially and culturally responsive to the needs of the inhabitants, as the architecture produced by low-income settlers is based on a system responsive to the changing needs and demands of the users. In these settlements the built environment is the result of the freedom available to inhabitants to take decisions and shape their own environment. This in turn gives place to a myriad of spatial expressions in which culture, identity and popular character are imprinted in both the private and public spaces. This paper explores these issues in the spaces between the dwellings in the public realm.

Traditional Chinese medicine in cancer care: perspectives and experiences of patients and professionals in China

Although traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in Chinese cancer centres, it is a brand new area for formal scientific evaluation. As the first step of developing a research programme on clinical evaluation of TCM for cancer patients, we conducted a qualitative study to explore the perspectives and experiences of Chinese cancer patients and TCM professionals. Twenty-eight persons participated in two cancer patient focus groups and one professional focus group. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and translated. Textual transcripts and field notes underwent inductive thematic analysis. We found that patients' decision to use TCM for cancer is a self-help process with a deep cultural grounding, which is related to the traditional Chinese philosophy of life. Participants perceived TCM to be an effective and harmless therapy. They highly valued the fact that TCM is tailored to patients, and believed it was the basis of an optimal and safe treatment. Participants also highlighted the long-term positive effects, the benefit of group interventions and the low cost as important features of TCM. Subjects believed that conducting clinical research would be crucial for the recognition and dissemination of TCM in Western countries. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the knowledge base on the current TCM use for cancer in China, and to provide useful information for developing future clinical research in this area in Western countries.

Role of self-help processes in achieving abstinence among dually diagnosed persons

The effectiveness of participation in dual-focus groups (i.e., focusing on both mental health and substance use) has not been studied empirically. The study examined whether three hypothesized active ingredients of self-help (helper-therapy, reciprocal-learning, and emotional-support processes) are associated with drug/alcohol abstinence outcomes for members of a 12-step dual-focus fellowship, Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR). The study was able to control for member attitudes and behaviors at baseline, which might be related to both self-help processes and outcomes, i.e., extent of participation in DTR and traditional 12-step groups, prior drug/alcohol use, severity of psychiatric symptoms, motivation for change, stressful life events, perceived coping, self-efficacy for recovery, and social support. Members of 24 DTR groups in New York City were recruited, interviewed, and reinterviewed after 1 year. Drug/alcohol abstinence in the past year increased from 54% at baseline to 72% at follow-up. Helper-therapy and reciprocal-learning activities were associated with better abstinence outcomes, independent of other attitudes and behaviors of the members. However, emotional support was not related to outcome. We conclude that specific elements of self-help participation contribute substantially to progress in recovery for members of dual-focus groups; facilitating such self-help processes should be encouraged by clinicians and senior fellowship members.