The clients' experience of the community group: implications for nurse facilitators

Community or large group meetings occur in many mental health units. Literature is available that describes the possible functions of such groups, but little is known about how they are actually experienced by the members, or the implications of this for nurse facilitators, especially in the current context of inpatient care. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the clients' experience of the daily community group in a unit that offered both an inpatient and a day patient service for adults experiencing mental health problems. The group meeting was intended to provide an opportunity for people to examine their relationships with others and discover new ways of coping with problems and stressors. The group had a changing membership, with all staff and clients present on the unit at the time expected to attend. The meeting lasted for an hour and had no predetermined agenda. Mental health nurses made up the majority of the staff membership. Semistructured interviews were conducted with four clients who had been attending the group for between 3 and 6 months. These were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and then analysed using the phenomenological approach of Colaizzi. Three themes emerged from the data: 'Whose Responsibility?', 'Me vs. Them' and 'What Works?' These themes have implications for nurse facilitators, namely: their awareness that such issues are of importance; their ability to recognize how and when they are present; and their ability to effectively intervene.