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Self-help groups for the chronically ill: Different structures, varying processes

Blauner, Michael Lee
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055450373

Abstract Details

1991, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Social Welfare.
In this project, I examine the symbolic processes used by participants in two self-help groups for individuals suffering from particular chronic physical disorders. My objective was to understand the processes of signification used by members of these groups in order to comprehend the meaning they derived from their organizational activities. I studied two groups. One association concerned itself with the patients and caregivers afflicted with Parkinson's disease while the other focused on lupus. I utilized ethnographic methodologies since I participated in, and observed, group activities. I used my fieldnotes as guides to conducting open ended interviews with selected key informants. Although concerned with different disorders, these groups shared similar grassroot origins. They also had the same organizational objectives of sponsoring increased public and professional awareness of the problems encountered by individuals troubled with these particular ailments. Despite these similarities, the groups became two distinct cultural entities. The group for Parkinson's patients had a democratic structure and provided interactive meeting agendas that enabled its members to learn the information necessary to maintain control over diminishing physical resources. Meetings resembled dramas in which pati ents undertook actions that became silent signals about survival, independence, and achievement. As a contrast, the lupus organization was hierarchically structured while the agendas for its forums were pedantic. This arrangement allowed the group context to become one area of certainty in lives that had been stripped of order and meaning. The meetings of the lupus group became biomedical dramas that allowed members to use healers' words and pictures to transform their inchoate somatic processes into tangible realities. Since these discussions utilized case studies of healed tissues, listeners could derive hope for their own futures. Through the interviews, these distinct approaches to group meaning was traced back to personal network reactions to the first symptom experiences as well as to various encounters with biomedical representatives. This project demonstrates the importance for providers who work with chronically ill populations to understand their clients' inner words and unstated needs.
Howard Goldstein (Advisor)
455 p.
Self-help groups

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Blauner, M. L. (1991). Self-help groups for the chronically ill: Different structures, varying processes [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055450373

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Blauner, Michael. Self-help groups for the chronically ill: Different structures, varying processes. 1991. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055450373.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Blauner, Michael. "Self-help groups for the chronically ill: Different structures, varying processes." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055450373

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1055450373
432
© 1991, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.