Group and peer support
This page is reference information compiled from the cited sources. It is not medical advice. For any decision about health, diagnosis or care, consult a qualified professional.
What it is
A support group is an organization wherein members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping strategies, to feel more empowered and for a sense of community. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. In this article, the term support group refers to peer-to-peer support. These groups may also be referred to as fellowships, peer support groups, lay organizations, mutual help groups, or mutual aid self-help groups.
Key facts
Support groups maintain interpersonal contact among their members in a variety of ways, including meeting in person and through printed newsletters, telephone chains, internet forums, and mailing lists. Some support groups are exclusively online. Membership can be formally controlled with admission requirements and fees, or groups can be open. A self-help support group is fully organized and managed by its members, who are commonly volunteers with personal experience in the group's focus. Professionally operated support groups are facilitated by professionals, such as social workers or psychologists, who most often do not share the problem of the members. These professional groups are often found in institutional settings like hospitals and may run for a specified period of time. Online support groups provide mutual support and information, and participation can be asynchronous, allowing communication without simultaneous logins. Research indicates longer participation in online support groups can result in a better health-related quality of life for some patients. However, finding an appropriate group can be difficult due to a lack of qualitative directories and many groups not being listed by search engines.
When to seek professional help
Professionally operated support groups are facilitated by professionals such as social workers, psychologists, or members of the clergy. These groups are often found in institutional settings, including hospitals, drug-treatment centers, and correctional facilities. The source notes that in the context of online groups, research has lagged behind on groups set up by the people with the problems, rather than by researchers and healthcare professionals. It also mentions that user-defined groups can share practical knowledge that healthcare professionals can overlook. The medical community is described as needing to understand the use of personal experiences in these groups rather than an evidence-based approach.
Source: Support group (CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia)), retrieved 2026-09-23.
