Effectiveness of Internet vs. Face to Face Support Groups
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The use of the Internet for delivering health services has seen explosive growth in the past several years. Based on current research we know that 56,000,000 adult Americans go online for help with health problems. Recent surveys indicate that many are from minority communities and the socio-economically deprived. Such growth has not been matched by quality empirical research to understand the implications and potential uses of such internet use.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The study is a collaborative effort investigative teams in two universities, UCSF and Stanford, and a community organization The Wellness Community (TWC) who have worked successfully together for 5 years. We propose a randomized study comparing online (ESG) Wellness Community groups and face-to-face (FTF) support groups to a TWC usual care educational activities group. This will enable us to evaluate the true effects of systematic psychological support delivered in two modalities. Patients will be recruited regardless of their computer skills and after randomization will be offered training and provided E Boxes (Web TV). SeniorNet will provide computer training.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Since TWC is in a position to implement this service quickly and effectively, this study has far-reaching implications. A cost analysis found that TWC FTF is 5 times the cost of their ESG groups. TWC has 20 facilities nationwide serving cancer patients. If found effective, online support groups would be made available to many more women than are served currently, particularly underserved rural populations. As the first random trial of Internet intervention, we believe that the findings may enable increased use of support services for a variety of health problems. The manual for leading online support groups, although based on breast cancer, could be a significant starting point in other health-related Internet support groups.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The CBCRP IDEA I Pilot found: a) women with breast cancer can be successfully recruited and retained for ESG’s; b) two-thirds of the women reside in rural areas or small towns; c) participants showed significant decreases in depression, expressed more zest for life, saw more new possibilities for their future, deepened their spiritual lives and substantially decreased their negative reactions to their cancer pain; and d) critical group processes were isolated that help identify characteristics associated with successful groups. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Three broad questions are asked in this research: 1) Do online TWC support groups improve quality of life? 2) What are the psychological characteristics of women who benefit? and 3) What are the processes of online groups that facilitate beneficial changes? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To answer these broad questions a series of hypotheses will be tested, the primary one being that participation in both TWC support settings will improve their attitudes and beliefs about their illness, quality of life, decreased marital strain and levels of depression compared to the usual-care group. We will recruit 240 primary (stages 1-3) breast cancer patients to participate in this randomized trial for 20 weeks. Measures will include: Efficacy: Depression, Self-Efficacy, Quality of Life, Marital Strain, Personal Growth. Mediators: Personality traits. Moderators: Cancer-Related Coping, Emotional Control, Repression, and Illness Level. Process measures: Leader Behavior, Group Norms, Cohesiveness, Helpful Experiences, Group Content, Analysis of Group Interaction using two computer linguistic dictionaries.