Gartner A J, Riessman F
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1982 Aug;33(8):631-5. doi: 10.1176/ps.33.8.631.
Over the past decade self-help groups have become an important way of helping people cope with various life crises. Groups have organized to help individual members deal with a wide range of health-related and other problems. The authors define the meaning of self-help in such groups and describe the range of groups now available, including a number of mental-health-related groups. The part self-help groups play in providing social support, preventing illness and death, and reducing the need for hospitalization is discussed. The authors also examine the role of professionals in initiating and working with such groups. They point to self-help groups as one means of meeting the increasing demands placed on health and mental health service systems during the 1980s.
在过去十年中，自助团体已成为帮助人们应对各种生活危机的重要方式。人们组织起团体来帮助个体成员应对一系列与健康相关及其他方面的问题。作者们界定了此类团体中自助的含义，并描述了目前存在的各类团体，包括一些与心理健康相关的团体。文中讨论了自助团体在提供社会支持、预防疾病和死亡以及减少住院需求方面所发挥的作用。作者们还审视了专业人员在发起此类团体并与之合作过程中所扮演的角色。他们指出，自助团体是满足20世纪80年代对健康和心理健康服务系统不断增长的需求的一种方式。
