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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Self-help groups as mutual support
— what do carers value? | | Author(s) | Carol Munn-Giddings, Andrew McVicar |
| Journal title | Health and Social Care in the Community, vol 15, no 1, January 2007 |
| Pages | pp 26-34 |
| Source | http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/hsc |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Self help organisations ; Attitude ; Social surveys ; South East England. |
| Annotation | The literature suggests that the UK - in common with Europe, the US, Canada and Scandinavia - has seen significant growth in single-issue self-help or mutual aid groups concerned with health and social care issues since the 1970s, but there is only ad hoc academic and policy interest in such groups in the UK. This article presents findings from a doctoral study with two self-help/mutual groups of carers in South East England. The data are drawn from semi-structured interviews with 15 active members which explored reasons for joining, benefits derived from membership, and perceived differences between support gained by membership and their relationship with professionals. Most group members had previous experience of voluntary work or activity, which influenced their decision to join, often prompted by a failure of the 'usual' support network of family or friends to cope or adjust to the carer's needs. Members reported personal gains of empathy, emotional information, experiential knowledge and practical information, based on a core value of reciprocity through peer support. It is this latter benefit that sets apart membership of self-help groups from groups supported by professionals who may not appreciate the scope and breadth of carers' responsibilities, or the importance of their relationship with the person for whom they care. In this way, self-help groups offered additional but not alternative 'space' that enabled members to transcend their traditional role as a 'carer'. It is concluded that self-help and mutual aid groups, based on reciprocal peer support, offer a valuable type of resource in the community that is not replicable in professional-client relations. The findings have contemporary relevance given the role of new policies which value the experiential knowledge built by both individual and collectives of carers. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070413242 A |
| Classmark | P6: PQ: DP: 3F: 82Z |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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