Group members’ questions shape participation in health counselling and health education

Abstract

Observing the occurrence of group members' questions helps group leaders to adjust their own actions accordingly and thus facilitate or guide group participation. Comparison of the type and frequency of members' questions is a way to detect different trajectories for delivering group interventions and can thus be used to develop methods for process evaluation of interventions.

Effects of Transmission Delay on Client Participation in Video-Mediated Group Health Counseling

“…Before focusing on the effect of VM on counseling interaction, we briefly show how overlap resolution takes place in face-to-face counseling. The group has been discussing a healthy diet (Extract from Logren et al, 2017aLogren et al, , p. 1837. N refers to the nutritionist, while A, B, and C are group members.…”

“…These studies have described both ways in which professionals can encourage participation and how clients are able to initiate an active role in counseling encounters. For example, a counseling format that revolves around instructors' questions and clients' answers can limit client participation to merely answering questions in either individual or group counseling (Karhila et al, 2003;Logren et al, 2017aLogren et al, , 2017bPoskiparta et al, 1998Poskiparta et al, , 2001Tiitinen et al, 2018). Furthermore, Karhila et al (2003) have shown how direct presentation of troublesome issues in clients' lives invites discussion about their lifestyle while merely hinting at possible problems may invite only minimal participation.…”

“…Furthermore, Karhila et al (2003) have shown how direct presentation of troublesome issues in clients' lives invites discussion about their lifestyle while merely hinting at possible problems may invite only minimal participation. Logren et al (2017a) have described how clients can ask questions to produce shifts from leader-driven to member-driven discussion, which then affords increased client participation and exchange of experiences among peers. By responding to one another's experiences, clients can provide social support, offer different perspectives on the topic at hand, and challenge other clients' thinking in constructive ways (Logren et al, 2017b(Logren et al, , 2019a(Logren et al, , 2019b.…”

Stories of Change: Comparative Time-Framed Experience Telling in Health Promotion Group Discussions

“…Hence, second stories are considered to have a therapeutic effect. Our own previous studies have shown that sharing and addressing experiences is a central activity in group discussions, and that they are closely intertwined with practices of stance-taking (Logren et al, 2017a(Logren et al, , 2017bLogren, Ruusuvuori, & Laitinen, 2019)-that is, the ways in which participants in interaction evaluate the topics of talk, position themselves in relation to these topics, and align their positionings in relation to those of the other participants (Du Bois, 2007;Du Bois & Kärkkäinen, 2012).…”

“…In institutional group work, such as health promotion groups, talking about experiences is one of the central ways in which the objectives of the group are pursued (Borek & Abraham, 2018; Cormack, Jones, & Maltby, 2018; Due-Christensen, Zoffmann, Hommel, & Lau, 2012; Frigerio & Montali, 2016; Kennedy, Rogers, & Crossley, 2007; Logren, Ruusuvuori, & Laitinen, 2017a, 2017b; Lund, Argentzell, Leufstadius, Tjörnstrand, & Eklund, 2019; Mazanderani, Locock, & Powell, 2012; Öster, Hedestig, Johansson, Klingstedt, & Lindh, 2013; Patterson, Fleming, & Doig, 2019). Nevertheless, talking about experiences poses a practical dilemma for the participants: how to manage, on one hand, the uniqueness of an individual experience and, on the other hand, the accessibility, shareability, and comparability of experiences—and thus, how to address the claims participants make on the grounds of their experiences?…”