Have you wondered what it would be like to run a group for the first time?
A couple of weeks ago, I started a weekly group for pregnant moms at my field placement. The moms range in age from late teens through mid-thirties. The goal of the psycho-educational weekly group is to inform the mothers on what to expect throughout their pregnancy, to share with them the things that they can do to maximize their chances at having a healthy pregnancy, and to be of emotional support to them.
Studies have shown that well-supported/guided mothers are more likely to come to their prenatal appointments and ultimately understand and learn to take better care of themselves and later of their young children. Therefore, by helping these mothers have healthier pregnancies, I hope to ultimately raise the likelihood of them having healthier babies.
During the first week, I had a 20 year old married mother who came to the “group.” I focused that class on what were the things/activities that were recommended vs. discouraged and put together a poster illustrating the suggested “Do’s.” Examples of some encouraged activities are drinking lots of water, washing your hands frequently to avoid infection and some moderate exercise such as walking. Conversely, pregnant women are recommended to cut down or avoid drugs, alcohol, soda and coffee.
During the second week, I had two women who were in their thirties who came. Both these women were rather far along in their pregnancies; they were each about 27 weeks. We discussed some of the good things they found about pregnancy, the worst things (and how they cope with these) and most surprising things. In our rather image-obsessed society, perhaps it is not surprising that changes in one’s body was listed as one of the worst changes they experienced. Another was the food/drinks that they had to abstain from during their pregnancy.
The third week was a “no show” group week 🙁 The two women did not show up and as a result of some scheduling issues/delays at the clinic, the 20 year old woman was unable to make it because her prenatal appointment ended up coinciding with the group session.
I’m hoping that the group’s turnout will be improving over time… In the interim, I’m enjoying the time I spend with these mothers and I’m learning a lot from this experience. It is also quite helpful to tackle running a group while taking a class on the topic so that I am able to try incorporating the recommended techniques and skills right away.
To help promote the group, I’ve posted flyers in my clinic, asked the nurses to mention the group to any patients coming in for prenatal appointments and I try to plug the group to the women whom I refer for a first prenatal appointment.
Do you have any ideas on how I may increase participation in the weekly group? I’d really appreciate any suggestions you may have.
Photo credit: Fine Art America
Getting people to attend a new group can be challenging. In my experience as a social worker I have found that people come to groups when they are: 1) a captive audience; 2) mandated (externally motivated); 3) really interested in the topic (internally motiated). It doesn’t sound like you have a captive audience, nor are they mandated (e.g. their providers are not “stronly recommending” the group). So, the question is, what is going tap into their internal motivation; what is going to “hook” potential members? The way you’ve described the group, it sounds like there is a lot of overlap with what these women receive in their prenatal appts, books they might be reading, discussions with friends and family who are or have been pregnant. In other words, this group sounds like it is not going to offer anything new. Another issue is that your formal social work training does not qualify you to provide information about the medical side of pregnancy. If I were a preganant womany I might be asking myself, “why would I listen to a social work student about my pregancy?” So, your question about what might get women to this group comes down to what you are selling – both yourself and the group. As someone with an MBA in marketing, you know better than I how to market products to consumers (and that is exactly what you’re doing here). I recommend figuring out what the “hook” is and title the group appropriately. Your professional training includes addressing psychosocial development, so I would think from that perspective. Parents want to raise children who love themselves, so maybe you could advertise a group debunks the myths about healthy child development.
Jonathan,
Thanks so much for your experienced input on this. Actually the vast majority of women at my clinic are quite likely to be uneducated and financially strapped. Therefore, they are unlikely to have the other resources you mention to obtain the information that I will be providing at my sessions. But you’ve given me much food for thought…
Thanks again,