Senior Group Analysis

726 Words2 Pages

Question 2: Planning a Senior Group: The writer encourages the group workers, Mary and Mario to have a 16 session, closed group. There will be two group sessions per week, for a total of 8 weeks. Sessions on Wednesday’s will take place at noon for two hours and Saturday sessions will be at 10:00am for three hours. Group workers will select prospective group members who are interested in learning ways to increase their social interactions, exploring their spirituality, practicing arts, and motivated to learn about healthy ways of living. Wednesday sessions will include a variety of psychoeducation classes such as nutrition, sleep hygiene, healthy movement, and mindfulness exercise classes; all taking place at the senior center. Saturday sessions …show more content…

The group workers will promote the proposed senior group in the local newspaper, local community centers, and charitable organizations and service providers. Once members are referred, group workers will contact prospective members and conduct a telephone pre-screening interview. The International Association of Social Work with Groups Standards state that group workers clearly determine if members will benefit from the program components (IASWG, 2010). To achieve this, an orientation will be scheduled in the member’s home or at the senior center. Group workers will explain the group objectives and expectations to prospective members and those assisting in recruitment in the community. For this senior group, having two group workers will allow group members to have more support during activities. According to Toseland and Rivas (2012) and the IASWG Standards, both should Mary and Mario should examine their working styles and decide on leadership method before beginning the group. IASWG Standards also instruct to obtain supervision if any issues surface, as well as continuing to debrief and plan group activities. Mario and Mary may have different views on group goals or expectations; after all, they have different lifestyles, faith, background, and past experiences. It is key for both to compromise on activities on all areas of the …show more content…

As the group members will be actively guided in seeking their spiritually and obtaining self-awareness; with the objective of challenging themselves to achieve change. The group will focus on socializing and learning from others; learning social skills and creating friendships. Relational theory, comprised of four stages, explained by Schiller (2007), can be applied to this group. This theory indicates that group members will relate by their commonalities and through their differences. Once they gain an understanding for each other they will have the ability to stay connected, they will have the capacity to get through any group aggression or challenges. Schiller (2007) also recognized that the relational theory applies to the older group population, as it is common for them to deal with loss. With growing age come the possibility of losses, including loss of significant others, ability, and

Open Document