Perceived benefits on family health of small groups for families with children

Background: Thus far, international research on small groups has focused on health problems. Research on preventive, resource-, and family-oriented small groups and their impact on family health is scant. Objectives: To describe the experiences of families with small children concerning resource-enhancing small support groups, and to identify the benefits to family health described by participating parents at the end of the group processes. Sample: The study population consisted of parents (n=123) attending 13 small groups. Participants included 63 mothers and 14 fathers (63% response rate). Methods: Data were collected through group interviews. Qualitative content analysis of latent content was the method of analysis. Results: Small groups provided the parents with knowledge about family life and encouraged them to seek information, made them feel refreshed, strengthened their social support networks, enhanced their awareness of their own resources and the different developmental needs at times of change in the family, and increased their confidence concerning their ability to cope. Conclusions: Concepts from this study can be used in the future to construct instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of small groups from the perspective of families and family health. The findings add to our professional understanding of resource-oriented family work from the perspective of families.