title: Creation and evolution of the hospice staff support group: lessons from four long-term groups.
abstract: The author summarizes the experiences of four long-term hospice staff support groups in which he served as facilitator. From these experiences he identifies what seem to be the key elements in the success or failure of a hospice staff support group, including its membership, the group contract, and the facilitator's leadership style. He outlines three developmental stages of the long-term staff support group: trust-building, individual support and team-focus. He suggests that the team-focused group is ideally suited to deal with crucial staff and agency sources of worker stress.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hunsberger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006738:Hospices; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000078329:Workforce