| Abstract: | Describes a project that consisted of putting ongoing self-help groups on the radio for 1 hr a week. The 1st half hour each week involved an actual session of a self-help group; during the 2nd half hour, calls from the audience were taken and answered by members of the group. The groups were directed at helping women cope wth motherhood, at men who abused their wives or children, and at parents of children with behavior problems. Increases in referral calls to each group were found after the self-help groups went on the air. Process recordings of the shows were useful in documenting the communication patterns employed during the shows. A panel of 12 mental health professionals judged that the programs did not provide unethical, harmful, or inaccurate information. The present project provided a demonstration of how researchers can work collaboratively with media and self-help groups in monitoring change in community-level types of interventions. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
