Social Support and Interpersonal Stress in Professional-Led Breast Cancer Self-Help Groups

Abstract

This participatory action research study included three professionally-led self-help groups for women recovering from breast cancer. The groups ran sequentially and met once a week for approximately four months. Empowerment was an explicit and strongly emphasized theme in the self-help groups' activities, aimed at stimulating the participants' strengths and abilities. The study revealed that self-help group participation was considered valuable by the women involved. The participants experienced a strong sense of fellowship, mutual empathy and care, healing laughter and improved relationships with families, friends, colleagues and health professionals. Negative experiences also occurred, caused by variations in ability to express emotions and in severity of disease, the expected death of a group member, pre-termination of group membership and stress induced by listening to others' stories. The negative experiences originated only rarely from interpersonal stress. The study shows that the social support provided and the implementation of empowerment perspectives overshadowed the negative experiences. This suggests the value of intervening systematically to strengthen group processes, with professional leadership and explicit attention to empowerment processes.

Keywords:

• social support
• interpersonal stress
• empowerment
• breast cancer self-help groups
• health promotion