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Hamostaseologie Feb 2022
Topics: Germany; Humans; Self-Help Groups
PubMed: 35196734
DOI: 10.1055/a-1694-4640 -
Australian Family Physician Sep 2010The past couple of months have seen Australia gripped by election fever, with political parties and advocacy groups jostling to capture as many potential voters as...
The past couple of months have seen Australia gripped by election fever, with political parties and advocacy groups jostling to capture as many potential voters as possible. One factor of interest in an otherwise bland election campaign was the emergence of internet based social media tools, such as Facebook, twitter, text messaging, email advocacy, and online videos such as YouTube, as new ways of reaching out to voters like never before.
Topics: Australia; Communication; Humans; Internet; Physician-Patient Relations; Politics; Self-Help Groups; Social Support
PubMed: 20877760
DOI: No ID Found -
American Journal of Public Health Jul 2021
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Death; Female; Grief; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Self-Help Groups; Social Support; United States
PubMed: 34314213
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306379 -
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry Jan 2021Parenting gender diverse children and adolescents can be a challenging experience, entailing doubts about how to protect and support them during their development....
Parenting gender diverse children and adolescents can be a challenging experience, entailing doubts about how to protect and support them during their development. Parental reactions impact on the child's sense of security and well-being. Therefore, when caring for families with gender diverse children, it is important to offer support to parents. In this article we present an experience with a 12-month support group for parents of young people who attended the service for gender identity development at a paediatric hospital. We describe the group structure and methodology, together with the process for evaluating the intervention. At 6-month intervals, parents were asked to indicate the most important topics that had emerged during the monthly sessions. At 12 months, they completed a semi-structured feedback questionnaire about their experience in the group, including possible difficulties encountered. Thematic analysis showed an evolution in time, with participants taking a more complex perspective on gender diversity and the needs of their children, while feeling more able to deal with the uncertainties related to gender identity development. After attending the group, parents reported feeling less lonely, more confident, and better able to communicate with their children. They related these positive changes to the opportunity of sharing experiences and mutual learning. This feed-back provides preliminary evidence that the psychological support group was perceived to be a useful resource by parents of gender diverse young people.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Male; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Parents; Self-Help Groups
PubMed: 33070619
DOI: 10.1177/1359104520963372 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2022Suicide bereavement support groups are a widely available format of postvention service. Although other reviews have addressed peer-led bereavement interventions, no... (Review)
Review
Suicide bereavement support groups are a widely available format of postvention service. Although other reviews have addressed peer-led bereavement interventions, no review has focused specifically on peer-led support for people bereaved by suicide. Informed by a framework for undertaking scoping reviews, we conducted a systematic review according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches conducted in May 2021 of peer-reviewed literature in MEDLINE (EBSCO), CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), PsycINFO (EBSCO), EMBASE (Elsevier), AMED (EBSCO), ERIC (EBSCO), Web of Science (Core Collection), ASSIA (Proquest), and Global Index Medicus. The search was not limited by language, and all studies were included to full text screening. The search identified 10 studies conducted between 1994 and 2020 in five countries. The selected papers were subjected to quality assessment. The interventions included face-to-face groups, telephone and online groups/forums and were evaluated using a variety of methodologies, which made comparison and synthesis challenging. Thematic analysis resulted in four themes: motivation, impact, aspects of intervention which hindered/enhanced outcomes, and recommendations for the practice of peer support made by the authors. While there were methodological limitations to most studies included in this review; the studies do indicate the potential benefit of peer-led support to those bereaved through suicide. Future studies should provide a definition of 'peer' and a clear description of the intervention being evaluated. As the field matures there is a need for more rigorous evaluation of peer interventions with representative samples, studies that compare the impact of various types of peer interventions, and studies of the peer group processes.
Topics: Bereavement; Grief; Humans; Self-Help Groups; Suicide
PubMed: 35329171
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19063485 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Aug 2023While mobile health apps have demonstrated their potential in revolutionizing health behavior changes, the impact of a mobile community built on these apps on the level... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
While mobile health apps have demonstrated their potential in revolutionizing health behavior changes, the impact of a mobile community built on these apps on the level of physical activity and mental well-being in cancer survivors remains unexplored.
OBJECTIVE
In this randomized controlled trial, we examine the effects of participation in a mobile health community specifically designed for breast cancer survivors on their physical activity levels and mental distress.
METHODS
We performed a single-center, randomized, parallel-group, open-label, controlled trial. This trial enrolled women between 20 and 60 years of age with stage 0 to III breast cancer, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0, and the capability of using their own smartphone apps. From January 7, 2019, to April 17, 2020, a total of 2,616 patients were consecutively screened for eligibility after breast cancer surgery. Overall, 202 patients were enrolled in this trial, and 186 patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either the intervention group (engagement in a mobile peer support community using an app for tracking steps; n=93) or the control group (using the app for step tracking only; n=93) with a block size of 10 without stratification. The mobile app provides a visual interface of daily step counts, while the community function also provides rankings among its members and regular notifications encouraging physical activity. The primary end point was the rate of moderate to severe distress for the 24-week study period, measured through an app-based survey using the Distress Thermometer. The secondary end point was the total weekly steps during the 24-week period.
RESULTS
After excluding dropouts, 85 patients in the intervention group and 90 patients in the control group were included in the analysis. Multivariate analyses showed that patients in the intervention group had a significantly lower degree of moderate to severe distress (B=-0.558; odds ratio 0.572; P<.001) and a higher number of total weekly step counts (B=0.125; rate ratio 1.132; P<.001) during the 24-week period.
CONCLUSIONS
Engagement in a mobile app-based patient community was effective in reducing mental distress and increasing physical activity in breast cancer survivors.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03783481; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03783481.
Topics: Female; Humans; Breast Neoplasms; Cancer Survivors; Exercise; Mobile Applications; Self-Help Groups; Young Adult; Adult; Middle Aged
PubMed: 37549004
DOI: 10.2196/47158 -
ELife Nov 2022Humans are social animals who engage in a variety of collective activities requiring coordinated action. Among these, music is a defining and ancient aspect of human...
Humans are social animals who engage in a variety of collective activities requiring coordinated action. Among these, music is a defining and ancient aspect of human sociality. Human social interaction has largely been addressed in dyadic paradigms, and it is yet to be determined whether the ensuing conclusions generalize to larger groups. Studied more extensively in non-human animal behavior, the presence of multiple agents engaged in the same task space creates different constraints and possibilities than in simpler dyadic interactions. We addressed whether collective dynamics play a role in human circle drumming. The task was to synchronize in a group with an initial reference pattern and then maintain synchronization after it was muted. We varied the number of drummers from solo to dyad, quartet, and octet. The observed lower variability, lack of speeding up, smoother individual dynamics, and leader-less inter-personal coordination indicated that stability increased as group size increased, a sort of temporal wisdom of crowds. We propose a hybrid continuous-discrete Kuramoto model for emergent group synchronization with a pulse-based coupling that exhibits a mean field positive feedback loop. This research suggests that collective phenomena are among the factors that play a role in social cognition.
Topics: Animals; Music; Social Behavior; Interpersonal Relations; Behavior, Animal; Self-Help Groups
PubMed: 36317963
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.74816 -
BMJ Open Nov 2016Peer facilitators play an important role in determining the success of many support groups for patients with medical illnesses. However, many facilitators do not receive... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
OBJECTIVE
Peer facilitators play an important role in determining the success of many support groups for patients with medical illnesses. However, many facilitators do not receive training for their role and report a number of challenges in fulfilling their responsibilities. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the effects of training and support programmes for peer facilitators of support groups for people with medical illnesses on (1) the competency and self-efficacy of group facilitators and (2) self-efficacy for disease management, health outcomes and satisfaction with support groups among group members.
METHODS
Searches included the CENTRAL, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science databases from inception through 8 April 2016; reference list reviews; citation tracking of included articles; and trial registry reviews. Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in any language that evaluated the effects of training programmes for peer facilitators compared with no training or alternative training formats on (1) competency or self-efficacy of peer facilitators, and (2) self-efficacy for disease management, health outcomes and satisfaction with groups of group members. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess risk of bias.
RESULTS
There were 9757 unique titles/abstracts and 2 full-text publications reviewed. 1 RCT met inclusion criteria. The study evaluated the confidence and self-efficacy of cancer support group facilitators randomised to 4 months access to a website and discussion forum (N=23; low resource) versus website, discussion forum and 2-day training workshop (N=29). There were no significant differences in facilitator confidence (Hedges' g=0.16, 95% CI -0.39 to 0.71) or self-efficacy (Hedges' g=0.31, 95% CI -0.24 to 0.86). Risk of bias was unclear or high for 4 of 6 domains.
CONCLUSIONS
Well-designed and well-conducted, adequately powered trials of peer support group facilitator training programmes for patients with medical illnesses are needed.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42014013601.
Topics: Education; Health Services; Humans; Peer Group; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Self-Help Groups
PubMed: 27856483
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013325 -
Journal of Burn Care & Research :... Sep 2022Disparities in psychosocial outcomes after burn injury exist in patients from racial or ethnic minority groups in the United States. Peer support groups can help...
Disparities in psychosocial outcomes after burn injury exist in patients from racial or ethnic minority groups in the United States. Peer support groups can help patients with many psychosocial aspects of recovery from burns; however, access to such support among patients of racial and ethnic minority or low socioeconomic groups are unknown. The present study examined participation rates in outpatient peer support within this patient population. Patients attending outpatient clinic at an urban safety-net hospital and regional burn center with a majority minority patient population were asked about participation in burn survivor group, interest in joining a group, and given validated survey questions about managing emotions and social interactions since injury. Current or past participation in peer support was low (4.2%), and 30.3% of patients not already in support group were interested in joining. Interest in future participation in peer support was highest among Hispanic patients (37.0%) and lowest among Black patients (0%). Logistic regression models demonstrated that increased total body surface area burned, hospital length of stay, and need for surgical intervention were associated with interest in joining or having joined a peer support group. Effectiveness of management of emotions and social interactions were not associated with interest in joining peer support in the future. These findings demonstrate a considerable difference between levels of interest and participation in peer support within this population. Improving access to and education about benefits of peer support in underresourced communities may help to address the variation in psychosocial outcomes of patients across racial or ethnic minority groups recovering from burns.
Topics: Burns; Ethnicity; Hispanic or Latino; Humans; Minority Groups; Self-Help Groups; United States
PubMed: 35781574
DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irac086 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2022The study aimed to examine what types of social support a prominent online peer support group has provided to Filipino domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong (HK), how...
The study aimed to examine what types of social support a prominent online peer support group has provided to Filipino domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong (HK), how impactful each type of support was, and to what extent the support could address group members' expressed needs. Posts published from 1 September 2021 to 31 December 2021 in one of the largest online peer-support groups for FDWs in HK and their meta-data were extracted from Facebook. Thematic content analysis was performed to extract relevant information from the posts. Descriptive statistical analysis on the social media metrics was conducted to measure post impacts. A total of 599 posts published over the study period can be categorized to provide informational (76.67%), emotional (33.56%), and instrumental support (13.52%). Posts including emotional support were often more impactful. A total of 58 posts responded to requests explicitly expressed by individual FDWs, of which 13 required external resources. The online peer-support group acts as a new channel to raise FDWs' awareness of important issues related to their well-being, to encourage and facilitate them to seek formal and informal help, and to keep them emotionally attended to. Formal support services should recognize and collaborate with them and support their long-term sustainability.
Topics: Communications Media; Humans; Peer Group; Self-Help Groups; Social Media; Social Support
PubMed: 35955023
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159665