Hospitals and self-help groups: opportunity and challenge.

Mutual aid self-help (MASH) groups can be a positive means of enabling persons to cope effectively with their health and personal problems. MASH groups provide emotional support, decrease anxiety, foster referrals to the hospital, reduce lengths of stay, and facilitate the discharged patient's reentry into the home and community. Yet this potentially valuable resource has been largely untapped by hospitals. Hospitals can take a number of steps to integrate their programs and services with MASH networks: Identify self-help groups in the hospital's service area. Establish liaison with groups that are of key interest to various hospital departments and programs. Make referrals to appropriate MASH groups as part of the discharge-planning process. Promote the development of MASH groups by appropriate hospital departments. Provide logistic support to self-help groups. Promote awareness of MASH Groups through specialized directories or tapes. Educate professional staff on the value, variety, and limitations of self-help groups. Provide consultation and speakers.