Chapter 6 Health Promotion with Groups
Chapter Overview
Key Issues and Learning Outcomes
Key issues within this chapter:- Group work is widely used in many settings for organization and management of health promotion activities, for facilitating self-help, promoting health empowerment and development of skills such as assertiveness.
- Many factors affect the success or failure of groups and it is important to have an understanding of group dynamics and participatory learning methods.
- Small group teaching involves analysing learning needs of a group and selecting suitable learning methods to meet those needs.
- understand the contribution to health promotion of working in groups.
- apply an understanding of group dynamics to the setting-up and facilitation of groups.
- be aware of specific group methods including participatory learning, assertiveness training and the setting-up of self-help groups.
- plan small group teaching sessions to promote specific learning needs.
Test your Knowledge
Having read the chapter can you now answer the following questions?
- Why are groups important in health promotion?
- What factors influence the ability of a group in decision making?
- Identify five types of learning, giving an example of how you might enable each type of learning to occur.
- Identify the type of learning that is necessary in the following situations:
- an environmental health officer knowing how to prepare a leaflet.
- a father being able to list the advantages of breastfeeding.
- a practice nurse wanting to spend time promoting blood pressure awareness among patients.
- a man using a blood pressure monitoring machine.
- What is the difference between being assertive and being aggressive? Which has most use in health promotion?
- What is the value of using role play in health promotion?
- You have been asked to facilitate a group discussion. How would you encourage everyone to contribute?
Internet links
BBC Assertiveness skills site. A useful site from the BBC on assertiveness training with an on-line training course.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2998551
The University of Richmond resource page on group dynamics gives links to a range of useful resources.
http://www.richmond.edu/~dforsyth/gd/
Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice. Peer reviewed journal devoted to publishing research on group dynamics.
http://www.apa.org/journals/gdn/
Jerry Hampton's Group dynamics and community building web site provides a range of useful resources materials and exercises for working with groups. http://www.community4me.com/Resources.html
Details of 2015 UK patient support organizations, self help groups, health and disease information providers, etc. provided by Patient UK. http://www.patient.co.uk/selfhelp.asp
Self Help UK is a database of self-help groups in the UK provided by commercial company. www.self-help.org.uk.
