Support Group Leaders Research Articles

Alternative funding for libraries: a plan for success

Libraries have barely begun to exploit alternate funding potential. Provides essential information and outlines the steps for planning using a team approach. Library staff and support group leaders will find the information helpful as their guide to fundraising for a library. Provides the tools to develop a powerful, customized library fundraising action plan. Provides the three phases of planning, a planning questionnaire, and guidelines for the planning team. Describes fundraising strategies for libraries in detail and sample planning worksheets clarify how the plan should look.

Social support, support groups, and breast cancer: a literature review.

A review of medical, social science, and "grassroots" literature on support groups and breast cancer, this paper concerns the need among women living with breast cancer and their caregivers for more information on the efficacy of social support as a therapeutic intervention. The literature has been subdivided into reviews of articles dealing with professionally led support groups, community-based support groups, support groups and survival, and support groups and psychological adjustment.

The young stroke patient: A need for specialized group support systems.

Young stroke patients (<65 years of age) account annually for more than one quarter of the people who survive a stroke. This article demonstrates the necessity of providing ongoing stroke support networks for these young stroke survivors and their families and caregivers. Through a support group system, members have the opportunity to access education, socialization, emotional support, and community interaction. The authors utilized a survey format to interview young stroke survivors who belong to support groups and leaders of stroke support groups. The survey results detail common practices of Chicago metropolitan area stroke support groups, their typical formats, and their stated goals. These results document a definitively expressed need for young survivors to participate in peer groups addressing their different set of circumstances.

A Survey of Family Support Group Leaders:

A survey was conducted on 19 leaders of family support groups for the caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease patients to help understand the group facilitation experience and determine the leaders' perceived training needs. Results of this survey indicated that these family support group leaders come from diverse work backgrounds and have led groups in different settings for varied time periods. Helping others was the most frequently listed reward of being a support group leader. Problems with group process, structure, and inadequate information were reported as disadvantages. The leaders perceived mutual support as a major strength of a support group and sporadic member participation a major weakness. Almost all leaders believed that special training should be required for group leaders and that this should include sessions on group leaders and that this should include sessions on group process issues, content issues, and available community resources. In response to these findings, a support group le...

Creating a Safer School Environment for Lesbian and Gay Students

Information obtained from clinical experiences of the University of Minnesota Youth and AIDS Project (YAP), a primary AIDS prevention program for gay and bisexual males ages 14-21, is described. More than 300 YAP clients have been interviewed regarding sexual behavior, suicide attempts, drug use, and experiences in disclosing their homosexuality to peers and parents during their high school years. The authors also have drawn from their experiences as support group leaders for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth in high school and community settings. Constructive and destructive coping strategies employed by gay, lesbian, and bisexual students are described. Roles and responsibilities of school professionals to create a safer school environment also are presented. Key issues include how school professionals support or deny the existence of homosexuality in young people; how adults' biases against homosexuality, as well as institutionalized heterosexism, prevent lesbian and gay students from succeeding in school; how language, behaviors, and environmental cues contribute to school professionals' approachability; how children of lesbian and gay parents suffer when negative attitudes toward homosexuality are not challenged; and what resources and referrals can help lesbian and gay young people.

Therapeutic Processes in Peer Led and Professionally Led Support Groups for Caregivers

A comparison of peer led and professionally led support groups for caregivers of frail older persons living in the community demonstrates that both types of groups are effective. Findings reveal that it was the opportunity to ventilate pent-up feelings and emotions, the validation of caregiving experiences, the affirmation of coping abilities, the encouragement for continuing to provide care and cope with the situation, the exploration of alternative caregiving arrangements, the mutual support, and the mutual sharing of information about community resources and coping strategies that appeared to be the most helpful therapeutic ingredients of both types of groups. The greater attention to problem solving work and the learning of specific coping skills in the professionally led groups was not reflected in differential outcomes in the two support group conditions.

Long-Term Effectiveness of Peer-Led and Professionally Led Support Groups for Caregivers

After 1 year, peer-led and professionally led groups were found to be more effective than no treatment for helping caregivers of frail older persons reduce the stress of pressing problems, increase formal and informal social supports, make personal changes in their caregiving role, and increase their interpersonal competence. No differences were found between peer-led and professionally led groups. The present study is a follow-up to an article published in Social Service Review in September 1989.

Alzheimer's disease support groups: an analysis of their structure, format and perceived benefits.

The focus of this article is the identification and assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Alzheimer's disease support groups' predominant model of service delivery. Based on information from 47 support group leaders and 301 members, Alzheimer's disease support groups' structure, format, member composition and perceived benefits are examined. The data suggest that support groups have primarily focused on education and peer support and less attention has been directed towards caregivers' own emotional needs and the effects of the disease on the whole family system. Findings also revealed that families with relatives in the early disease stages are underrepresented in support groups. Practice implications of the findings are discussed.

A Comprehensive Approach to Treating Infertility

Infertility frequently provokes a life crisis that involves the loss of self-esteem and adaptive functioning. Drawing on clinical experience in counseling infertile individuals and couples and leading support groups for such clients, the author analyzes this crisis in terms of the emotional stages experienced by the individual and defines the therapeutic role of the social worker in guiding clients through the tasks of resolution.