Group Processes and the Development of Interpersonal Skills

Abstract

Many education and health programs are conducted in groups (Wass, 1994) and it has been suggested that group approaches are becoming increasingly important in health care (Rosenbaum & Patterson, 1995). The benefits of a group approach are usually reported to arise out of the functioning of the group itself by, for example providing peer support, and/or be a cost-effective utilisation of resources (Dignan & Carr, 1992). The aim here is to illustrate the value of taking group processes into account in the design and implementation of group-based programs. A postgraduate educational program for health care practitioners in interpersonal skills will be used to illustrate the application of groupwork theory.