Self help group research

Research

Self Help Nottingham is committed to ongoing involvement in research into all aspects of self help and mutual aid groups.

Self help and mutual aid amongst Black and Minority Ethnic communities merits a higher profile and supportive policies to ensure that these groups have a voice nationally, to raise awareness of the effects of participation, and to improve communication between self help members and professionals at all levels yet in the UK there appears to be no real body of academic interest. Anecdotal evidence and the results of a few survey studies do indicate that minority communities are often under-represented in self help groups.

In 2002 Self Help Nottingham began working on a research proposal with the School of Nursing at the University of Nottingham to to highlight good practice and describe methods to increase participation in self-help groups amongst Black and Minority Ethnic communities with a particular focus on self help groups for people with cancer. The Big Lottery Fund agreed to fund the project and the research began in June 2003. The Research Associate on the project is Seeta Patel.

At an early stage in the project, it was decided to involve participants from other regions and to use Self Help Nottingham's established contacts with national groups in order to access a wider range of participants. A considerable amount of networking has been done with voluntary organisations, community groups, projects, self help groups, NHS staff and other health professionals. This networking has informed the project in a number of ways including improved access to interviewees and facilitating intra-networks to enable small projects to collaborate and share resources, for example, translated literature for cancer patients and their carers. It has provided the means to disseminate the research and increase awareness of support available via self help groups, which in turn has resulted in educating community groups about cancer and the availability of appropriate local cancer services.

As a result of the research, guidelines to support professionals in their work with self help groups in Black and Minority Ethnic Communities has been published and is being disseminated nationally to reach a wide audience of both self help groups and professionals. See the publications listing to purchase a copy.