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Participants

“There are times in our lives when it is hard to do what we need to do to keep socially connected.
This is where Groups 4 Health comes in.”

What is Groups 4 Health?
Groups 4 Health is an evidence-based group program that is designed to help people better understand and manage their social relationships, with the goal of improving health and well-being. It consists of 5 x 1.5 hour sessions (1 per week over 4 weeks, with a follow-up one month later) with 6-8 participants per group.
Is Groups 4 Health a program for me?

If you are feeling:

  • sad,
  • stressed and nervous,
  • or lonely or isolated

…then Groups 4 Health can help. The program addresses these issues by helping you to strengthen your existing social connections and develop new ones.

What topics will be covered?

Session 1 – Why your social group ties matter?

  • Increases awareness of the role that social groups play in our lives
  • Helps people to discover the benefits of social groups

Session 2 – Mapping your social world

  • We will illustrate your social group networks and relationships between them
  • This will be used to identify any areas that can be strengthened and developed further

Session 3 – How to make the most of your existing social networks

  • Discovering the best ways to make the most of your group ties
  • Identifying key ways to reconnect with old group ties

Session 4 – Building new connections

  • Identifying groups one wants to join
  • Developing the confidence to join new groups

Session 5 – Ensuring your group ties endure

  • Troubleshooting any issues encountered in managing social groups
How much does the program cost?

Nothing! The program is free.

What is involved?

After registering your interest by filling out the form below, a member of our research team will send you an email, requesting you to fill in an online questionnaire before the group commences. The information you provide helps us to check on your eligibility for the program. Once complete, we will tell you if you meet the eligibility criteria. In order to check how you are going and if the program is helpful, you will also be asked to fill in some surveys and other measures throughout the program and 2 months after it finishes.

When and where are the groups run?

The workshops will be conducted at The University of Queensland, St Lucia. Opportunities to participate will continue throughout 2017. The first 4 sessions of the workshop will take place at the same time each week, followed by the final session one month later (at the same time).

This study is being supervised by Professor Catherine Haslam () and adheres to the guidelines of the ethical review process. Please register your interest below.

Social interaction is what makes us human.

Accordingly, many of us see and interact with other people most days. We do this at home, in the workplace, and in a range of settings within our various communities. We also interact with others in a range of capacities – for example, as friends, as parents, as colleagues, as neighbours, as service users and providers.

Whenever our social interactions are positive they make a huge difference to our lives – helping us to feel a part of something, giving us support when we need it, and even helping to keep us healthy. Interestingly, on all these fronts, evidence suggests that it is people’s relationships as members of various groups – the family, the work team, the sports club, and so on – that are most important.

It is easy to take our membership of groups for granted and to overlook the significance of group life. There are also times in our lives when it is hard to do what we need to do to keep socially connected. This is where Groups 4 Health comes in.

Through Groups 4 Health you will learn:

How groups make a difference to our lives and to our health in general;
Ways to help you keep connected to groups of people, and;
Skills you need to build new positive social connections.

Joining in and feeling well will be achieved over 4 sessions with 1 additional follow-up session to check how things are going and to ensure that your social relationships are meeting your needs.