Self‐help groups at the turning point: Emerging egalitarian alliances with the formal health care system?

Abstract

Review of the historical development and current status of mutual aid self-help groups (SHGs) in the U.S. The SHGs social movements received an impetus from the 1987 Surgeon General's Workshop. Some alliances forming to link SHGs with the health care system are described. The Workshop recommended principles to guide these alliances. What direction will linkages actually take? Professional or bureaucratic cooptation and control of SHGs? Professionals can take a stand to respect SHG autonomy and self-determination. Professionals need training about SHGs. Research is needed on usefulness of experiential knowledge created and disseminated in SHGs and their social movement aspects.

Continuum of professional involvement in self-help groups

“…Schubert and Borkman (1991) state that groups which are professional-led are fundamentally different from peer-led groups. The research regarding professional involvement generally presents a dichotomous situation comparing peer-controlled self-help groups with little or no professional involvement and professionally led "support groups" (Borkman, 1990;Humphreys & Rappaport, 1994). To date, this research has produced mixed and conflicting findings, and has further strengthened the perception of a dichotomy between mutual aid groups with peer or professional leadership.…”

A Community Psychology View of Environmental Organization Processes

“…The literature contains a profusion of terms referring to inter-organizational relationships, such as 'collaborative partnerships' (Fawcett et al, 1995), 'alliances' (Bookman, 1990), 'coalitions' (Goodman, Wandersman, Chinman, Imm, & Morrissey, 1996a, 1996b, and 'social organization' (Biglan & Taylor, 2000). These emphasize collaborative action to address a specific problem in order to gain outcomes that could not be achieved by the action of a single organization alone.…”

Challenges of participatory research: reflections on a study with breast cancer self‐help groups

“…By definition, self‐help groups are concerned with participant empowerment and democratic decision‐making 24 . Given these values, it comes as no surprise that self‐help groups have tended to be suspicious of traditional research approaches that emphasize researcher control and standardized methods 2 .…”

“…Given these values, it comes as no surprise that self‐help groups have tended to be suspicious of traditional research approaches that emphasize researcher control and standardized methods 2 . Indeed, it has been argued that adherence to these mainstream approaches may alter the nature of self‐help group experience and render research results meaningless 23 –25 …”