Caregiver Discussion Groups

1
Caregiver Discussion Groups

• Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
• Fit WIC Project
• October 2001

2
What are Discussion Groups?

• Groups of caregivers get together and talk about
  feeding their children
• A facilitator helps to ensure the conversation
  goes smoothly

3
Why Discussion Groups?

• Our participants loved the discussion groups we
  had with our focus groups and wanted more!
• Caregivers learn better from each other than from
  health care providers.
• Caregivers get a realistic look at how to feed
  their children.
• Groups can save your clinic time by processing
  several people at the same time.
• They are a new and different way of providing
  education.

4
Why Facilitated Discussion Groups?

• Facilitating the groups can add to your other
  valuable skills.
• They will break up the monotony of providing
  education in the same way all the time (for staff
  and participants).
• They add diversity to the education being
  provided so different learning styles are
  accommodated.
• They can help establish support systems for WIC
  participants.
• They will help you learn more about the people
  you serve.

5
How do you feel about discussion groups?
6
Some concerns you may have

• No space
• Not enough time to do them
• Afraid, embarrassed, uncomfortable doing them
• Caregivers wont like them
• Too hard to do them

7
Getting Started

• What do you need to do to start group
  discussions?
• Find meeting room
• Set dates and times
• Recruit participants
• Learn how to facilitate
• Training and Practice, Practice, Practice

8
Facilitating a Group

• Greet the participants
• Be enthusiastic and positive
• Establish ground rules
• Begin with an icebreaker

9
The Opening Question

• The opening question should be easy for the group
  to answer.
• Sometimes it may take a little time for someone
  to answer.
• Tell them beforehand that they may need time to
  think about it.
• If no one answers for a long time
• Guess at an answer
• Pick someone that you think will be comfortable
  answering the question.

10
Open-ended questions

• What is an open-ended question?
• Cant be answered with a yes or no.
• There are no right or wrong answers.
• Answer the questions who, what, when, where, why,
  how, how much, how often.

11
What are some open-ended questions?
12
Too many open-ended questions

• May feel like interrogation
• Want the atmosphere to be conversational
• Balance with clarifying statements or focusing.

13
Guiding the Discussion-Your Job

• Make the process go smoothly and easily.
• But stay in control of the discussion.
• Keep the group on the topic.
• Encourage speakers to give more information.
• Look for feedback.
• Allow and encourage everyone to speak.

14
How to Encourage Participation

• Pay attention to the person who is speaking.
• Give positive reinforcement to the person who is
  speaking.
• Watch for signs that someone else may want to
  respond.
• Make sure seating arrangements include everyone.

15
How to Focus on Topic

• Guide the conversation by picking up on points
  that are related to the topic.
• Ask more questions in those areas. Ask others
  how they feel about what someone said.
• If an issue comes up several times, it is
  probably one that needs to be addressed.
• Focus esp. if conversation has rambled or jumped
  from topic to topic

16
Focus on Feelings

• Find out how the participants feel about
  something or what their experiences are.
• There are no right or wrong answers here.
• This helps to avoid debates or disagreements.
• Examples?

17
Practice Active Listening

• Listen carefully.
• Pay attention to what the person is saying
• Dont interrupt their statement.
• Dont be thinking about what you are going to say
  next while they are speaking.

18
Clarifying

• Comes after active listening.
• Repeat what you understood the participant to
  say.
• Give opportunity to disagree with your
  interpretation.

19
Dealing with Wrong Information

• Goal is to introduce correct information, avoid
  embarrassing person and acknowledge their
  experiences.
• Example statements.

20
Summarize the Discussion

• Bring ideas together.
• Repeat relevant points.
• Highlight certain conversations.
• Ask each participant to share what they learned
  or discovered during the session.
• Even the facilitator can learn something new!

21
Have Fun!!!

• Remember it takes practice to become skilled at
  this.
• Dont define success by the number of people at
  the session.
• Enjoy yourself and encourage participants to have
  fun too!