Support groups
I am wondering.. why are there no face to face...with a trained facilitator support groups in my community? I have a great love for this kind of support. It works!
As a former support group leader I can say it is a matter of participation. In my area, we could not credibly get more than two of us on average at meetings, over 36 months. we took polls, had flexible scheduling and really worked it, What we heard often was you do not have programing. Yes true, but in my area, we had one rheumatologist and one PT who might attend once per year. on those days we still had two (me and the assistant facilitator). It was just far to much when online groups can get 12-14 and attract top speakers.
Across the country it was the same thing in almost every area, except NYC, Minneapolis and LA. Big areas and each of those are doing online and in person as well.
I hear you on that! I do value in-person connection. That's why I really appreciated when Connexion was in-person (although I love the wider accessibility of a virtual conference, too). I would recommend looking into some support groups in your area or planning for groups in bigger cities like Rick mentions. Or maybe you could start a group, too! 😀 That's a lot of work though, I understand.
Take care,
David (RheumatoidArthritis.net Contributor/Moderator)
