Mutual-help groups: members' views of their benefits and of roles for professionals

Members of 18 self-help groups in Canada were surveyed as to the benefits of participation in mutual help groups and the roles for professionals in such groups. Three distinctions are made among mutual help groups: (1) those dealing with loss-transition (L-T), (2) those with members one step removed (OSR) from the problem, and (3) groups for stress, coping and support (SC&S). Members in OSR groups feel they benefit significantly more from participation than SC&S group members, while many L-T members feel they could get along well without the group if they had to. Members of SC&S groups tend to favor indirect involvement of professionals and see professional help and mutual help as complementary, more than do members of L-T and OSR groups. The traditional health care system is found to ignore the needs of L-T and OSR group members; mutual help thus provides a critical source of support and education for these people.