Extracts from the “Guidelines for running menopause groups that can be fun and successful”
Welcome
It’s very important to acknowledge the effort that most women have made in order to get to a session and to thank them for coming.
Most women at this stage of life have many responsibilities and demands on their time and find it very hard to feel justified in giving time to themselves.
If they’ve managed to get to the group – they want to be there!
As most menopausal women spend most of their time looking after others, they need to feel that they are really valued and cared for in this group, and starting with some form of refreshments or promising them at half time shows this caring in a practical way.”
Introduction to the session
Each session has a general introduction – as well as introductions to the individual activities.
It’s good for people to know at the beginning of the session what they will be dealing with, and a good educational principle is that you :-
“Tell them what you are going to teach them – teach them – then remind them what you have taught them.”
This may be particularly useful if the group are mainly menopausal!”
Folders
It’s nice to bring some coloured folders for the group if you are running several sessions – so they can keep their papers in one place and refer to them in the future if they want to.”
Suggested groundrules and confidentiality
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Every person has an equal chance to be heard
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No interrupting
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No-one is allowed to hog the floor and take more than their fair share of the time
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No putting people down
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No chattering while someone is speaking
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People can disagree with someone else’s statement – but not criticise the person who said it (If they disagree with someone else’s statement, it’s helpful for them to offer a positive alternative)
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People can talk about ideas they have learnt at home or with friends – but must not talk about individuals in such a way that they can be identified outside the group.”
Evaluation of the session by the group
Asking for a simple written evaluation of how the participants experienced the session not only helps you to improve your group skills over time but also gives a clear message that you respect and value their ideas, and care about how it went for them. Also you can say that their comments and suggestions will help you to improve sessions in the future.
A quick anonymous evaluation can be done by giving out pens and coloured post-it notes (leaving the pad on the table in case they need several) and asking the group, if they can, to write something they found useful or enjoyable about the session ie.”Roses” and also – on a separate note - something that didn’t quite work for them, or that they felt was missing in the session ie.“Thorns”.
Ask them to suggest a better alternative for any “Thorns” if they can.”
