Clients and facilitators’ experiences of participating in a Hong Kong self‐help group for people recovering from mental illness

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of self-help groups in the rehabilitation of people recovering from mental illness. A qualitative approach was adopted, with individual interviews of 12 clients and four focus group interviews of 22 professionals and volunteers, in a Hong Kong self-help organization. Three major categories emerged from the client interviews: the meaning of self-help; experience of self-help group involvement; and changes in life. The major categories which emerged from the focus groups were: the meaning of self-help; therapeutic factors; therapeutic process; facilitators' expectation; and difficulties encountered. Results indicated that self-help group involvement provided positive experiences for the members and led to some changes in their lives which contribute to the rehabilitation of their illness. Meanwhile, the professionals' and volunteers' view of the use of self-help groups was found to coincide with previous literature. Moreover, a spiritual dimension was expressed by all respondents as one of the factors that enhanced the group cohesiveness. It was concluded that self-help group involvement is beneficial to psychiatric rehabilitation. Findings have implications for further utilization of self-help groups for the people recovering from mental illness, as an alternative form of health care to complement the inadequacies in the present health care system.

Harnessing the Therapeutic Power of Volunteering

“…• Improved affect 16 • Improved sense of well-being and satisfaction with life 3,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] • Improved quality of life 4,[25][26][27][28][29] • Lower rates of depression 4,22,24,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] • Reduced stress/psychological distress 28,[37][38][39] • Increased self-esteem 4,8 • Greater sense of meaning and purpose in life 5,15,16,27,[40][41][42][43][44][45] • Greater sense of achievement and motivation 17 • Escape from everyday routines and demands; achieve better work:life balance 11…”

“…• Improved coping with one's own illness 25,26,[39][40][41]46,47 • Expanded social interactions and support system 41,42,[47][48][49] • Improved family functioning 50…”

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 21

“…studies that either examined or recommended the use of support groups as an intervention for health-related issues included those with a focus on breast cancer (coward, 2005;fawcett, smith, & Zeigler, 2004), cardiac disease (paquet, Bolduc, Xhignesse, & Vanasse, 2005), and social emotional needs (dadich, 2006;Knight, 2006;leung & arthur, 2004).…”

“…Improved quality of life was revealed to be a statistically significant outcome of support group intervention in the meta-analysis of studies that investigated their effect on those living with cancer, whereas increase in life span was not (Zabalegui, et al, 2005). a number of studies within this review, all published in peer-reviewed international and u.s. health care journals, relied on qualitative forms of data collection and analysis to conduct research (adamsen & rasmussen, 2003;dadich, 2006;leung & arthur, 2004;paquet et al, 2005;Ziegler et al, 2004). of the 20 studies reviewed, several focused on the guides' or facilitators' group participation preparation or experience (adamsen & rasmussen, 2003;Knight, 2006;leung & arthur, 2004;pitkala et al, 2004;Ziegler et al, 2004).…”

“…when these Hope group approaches are woven together, it optimizes the opportunity for seamless care and one that potentially fulfills a need for a quality, compassionate service that is cost efficient (leung & arthur, 2004;Zabalegui et al, 2005).…”