Group Work with Families of Nursing Home Residents

Group work with families of nursing home residents can play important functions in assisting families to overcome feelings of guilt and stress that often accompany placement of a relative in a home. The functions of the group are therapeutic in that they permit the families to express and deal with these feelings. The group also involves socialization functions in that it provides a milieu in which new roles and behaviors appropriate to the institution are leaned. The role of the group leader should be that of a facilitator, rather than that of a healer, who works to unlock and mobilize the helping and teaching potential of the group members.