Self-Help Toolkit: Increasing Patients’ Self-Help Group Attendance

Mental Health

Increasing Patients’ Self-Help Group Attendance

Click a question to reveal the answer.

How can I get my patients to KEEP GOING to self-help groups?

Clinicians can help increase patient attendance by: linking patients with a self-help group member for peer support, discussing patient concerns and brainstorming solutions, encouraging patients to get a sponsor. Research shows that by adding these steps to standard referral practices, patients are 10% more likely to be abstinent one year later.

Please refer to the 3-Step Referral Method tab on the menu bar for more detail.

How long should I tell my patient to attend self-help groups?

In a 16-year follow-up study, more extended participation in AA is associated with better alcohol-related and self-efficacy outcomes.

For more information on this finding see: Moos, R. & Moos, B. (2006). Participation in treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous: A 16-year follow-up of initially untreated individuals. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 735-750.