Journal – Feb. 11, 2004

Heather Abner

EDIT 6360

As I have now focused my topic on support groups for families of congenital heart disease patients, I am now starting to gather resources. As I do my research on the Internet, I have found multiple support groups on the web. While they don’t give me direct information, I am going to interview participants and find out how they have benefited from the groups. I have also visited the bookstore, and I found one particular book that I think is going to be very helpful. It details how to chose a group or how to start your own if you can’t find one that suits your needs. I have also found web sites that will be helpful and a least one good article that will help me.

Plan:

First I plan to fully read the book that I bought: The Support Group Sourcebook: What They Are, How You Can Find One, and How They Can Help You, and gather information from there.

Then, I plan to visit the groups and possible interview members of the chat groups that I found online at: www.heartcenteronline.com, www.parentsplace.com, www.yahoo.com

Next, I plan to read through the web sites and article that I found and compile info from them.

I am kind of having a difficult time finding information about support groups. Finding the actual groups is easier than finding information for my research…how they can help me, which would be most effective to join, etc. I think that I may find that information through interviewing the participants. I may also contact the coordinator of the family support group at my son’s hospital, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I am hoping that she will have some insight as to how they have helped patients.

Double-entry Draft: The Support Group Sourcebook

Share experiences	Joining a support group helps you share with others like you
Not alone	Help you know that you are not alone in your situation
Understanding	Talk to people who have been there and know details that you can learn
Start a group	You can start your own group if you can’t find one that suits you (I hadn’t thought of that)
Choosing a group	Interview members, see if they have common interests or experiences
Where to find…	Internet, through psychologist, church, community, national organizations, medical community
Are they legitimate?	Be sure to investigate group before joining, make sure they are not out for something illegal
Length of membership/amount of time involved	Depends on the group, how you feel, when you feel you no longer need support, can last a lifetime or a short time

Double-entry Draft: “Dial 1-800-Help” Prevention Magazine

Strategies to cope	Help each other learn how to deal with issues facing you
support	Teaching people to be active rather than passive in dealing with their problem
Effects of groups	Members of study who participated in groups experienced less anixiety and depression and fatigue
Quality of life	Members of study who participated in support groups lived longer despite terminal illness

I am not sure if I am doing the double-entry draft process correctly…I feel like I am doing notecards, but in a chart. Is this right? Am I missing something in the process? I like the visual aspect of it, because I can see the topic and the main idea right next to it. Even if I did it wrong, it helped me visualize what I am studying and what answers I am getting in the research.

Resources

Klien, L. (2000). The Support Group Sourcebook: What They Are, How You Can
Find One, and How They Can Help You. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Lally, S. & Rao, L. Dial 1-800-Help. (1991, June). Prevention, 98, 5.