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Yoga therapy is an emerging integrative health approach that applies the practices and teachings of yoga for individuals with clinical concerns. It is generally offered as individual sessions between a yoga therapist and client or in a small group setting with several clients who share a clinical concern. Here we describe a third model for consideration- the yoga therapy dyad. A dyad includes two clients working simultaneously with a single yoga therapist and differs from both individual and small group sessions in the potential benefits and challenges. The yoga therapy dyad model that is detailed here was implemented as part of a feasibility trial along with group acupuncture therapy for chronic pain in an underserved population. Underserved populations are at risk for pain and reduced access to care. This pilot may inform future research, policy, education, and clinical practice.

Objective Group Well-Child Care (GWCC) has been described as providing an opportunity to enhance well-being for vulnerable families experiencing psychosocial challenges. We sought to explore benefits and challenges to the identification and management of psychosocial concerns in Group Well-Child Care (GWCC) with immigrant Latino families. Methods We conducted a case study of GWCC at an urban academic general pediatric clinic serving predominantly Limited English Proficiency Latino families, combining visit observations, interviews, and surveys with Spanish-speaking mothers participating in GWCC, and interviews with providers delivering GWCC. We used an adapted framework approach to qualitative data analysis. Results A total of 42 mothers and 9 providers participated in the study; a purposefully selected subset of 17 mothers was interviewed, all providers were interviewed. Mothers and providers identified both benefits and drawbacks to the structure and care processes in GWCC. The longer total visit time facilitated screening and education around psychosocial topics such as postpartum depression but made participation challenging for some families. Providers expressed concerns about the effects of shorter one-on-one time on rapport-building; most mothers did not express similar concerns. Mothers valued the opportunity to make social connections and to learn from the lived experiences of their peers. Discussions about psychosocial topics were seen as valuable but required careful navigation in the group setting, especially when fathers were present. Conclusions Participants identified unique benefits and barriers to addressing psychosocial topics in GWCC. Future research should explore the effects of GWCC on psychosocial disclosures and examine ways to enhance benefits while addressing the challenges identified.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether positive results from a word-problem intervention implemented one-to-one contributed to similar outcomes when implemented in small groups of three to four students. Third-grade students experiencing mathematics difficulty ( N = 76) were randomly assigned to word-problem intervention ( n = 56) or business-as-usual comparison ( n = 20). Intervention occurred for 13 weeks, 3 times per week, 30 min per session. Multilevel models revealed the intervention condition significantly outperformed the BaU on a proximal word-problem outcome, corroborating results from our prior individual intervention. When comparing student performance in the individual versus small-group intervention, findings suggest students received added benefit from the individual intervention. The word-problem intervention successfully translated to a small-group setting, which holds important implications for educators working with students in supplemental, targeted, or Tier 2 mathematics intervention settings.

Physiological synchrony (PS) is defined as the co-occurrence and interdependence of physiological activity between interaction partners. Previous research has uncovered numerous influences on the extent of PS, such as relationship type or individual characteristics. Here, we investigate the influence of acute stress on PS. We do so in a setting in which PS was not promoted, but contact between group members was explicitly minimized. We reanalyzed cortisol, alpha-amylase, and subjective stress data from 138 participants (mean age = $$23.48 \pm 3.99$$ 23.48 ± 3.99 , 47.1% female) who previously underwent the Trier Social Stress Test for groups (TSST-G) or a non-stressful control task together, collected as part of a larger project by Popovic et al. (Sci Rep 10: 7845, 2020). Using a stability and influence model, an established method to test for synchrony, we tested whether individuals’ cortisol and alpha-amylase concentrations could be predicted by group members’ levels. We found cortisol PS in participants who were in the same group, the extent of which was stronger in the non-stressful control condition. For alpha-amylase, participants were synchronized as well; furthermore, there was an interaction between previous stress levels and PS. This suggests that while synchrony of both stress markers can occur in group settings even with spurious interaction, stressor exposure might attenuate its extent. We argue that if PS occurs in a sample where interaction was minimal, the phenomenon might be more widespread than previously thought. Furthermore, stressor exposure might influence whether a situation allows for PS. We conclude that PS should be investigated within group settings with various degrees of social interaction to further expose mechanisms of and influence on PS.

ObjectiveTreatment guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include a patient-centered approach and shared decision making, which includes a discussion of patient goals. We describe the iterative early development of a structured goal elicitation tool to facilitate goal communication for persons with RA and their clinicians.MethodsTool development occurred in 3 phases: (1) clinician feedback on the initial prototype during a communication training session; (2) semistructured interviews with RA patients; and (3) community stakeholder feedback on elements of the goal elicitation tool in a group setting and electronically. Feedback was dynamically incorporated into the tool.ResultsClinicians (n = 15) and patients (n = 10) provided feedback on the tool prototypes. Clinicians preferred a shorter tool deemphasizing goals outside of their perceived treatment domain or available resources; they highlighted the benefits of the tool to facilitate conversation but raised concerns regarding current constraints of the clinic visit. Patients endorsed the utility of such a tool to support agenda setting and preparing for a visit. Clinicians, patients, and community stakeholders reported the tool was useful but identified barriers to implementation that the tool could itself resolve.ConclusionA goal elicitation tool for persons with RA and their clinicians was iteratively developed with feedback from multiple stakeholders. The tool can provide a structured way to communicate patient goals within a clinic visit and help overcome reported barriers such as time constraints. Incorporating a structured communication tool to enhance goal communication and foster shared decision making may lead to improved outcomes and higher-quality care in RA.

Objective To evaluate the effects of a group-based Advance Quantity Meal Preparation (AQMP) program on the consumption of home-cooked meals, cooking attitudes, and self-efficacy in healthy adults. Methods Participants (n = 10) in a group setting prepared healthy meals weekly consisting of 10 entrees and 5 snacks for 6 weeks. A survey assessing cooking attitudes, cooking self-efficacy, and cooking behavior and consumption at 3 time points: preprogram, postprogram (T2), and 3 months postprogram (T3). Results The AQMP program increased the proportion of overall home-cooked meal consumption (T2, P = 0.03), home-cooked dinner consumption (T2, P = 0.04), cooking attitudes (T3, P = 0.01), and cooking self-efficacy (T2, P = 0.002). Conclusions and Implications This pilot study indicates that AQMP may increase home-cooked meal consumption, cooking attitudes, and cooking self-efficacy.

Abstract. Working memory (WM) is a key determinant of academic success. Therefore, standardized assessment tools are needed. In the past, WM assessment has been time-consuming and costly, especially in children, as WM instruments could only be used in one-to-one settings. The development of automatized, self-reliant WM tasks such as the tablet-based application EI-MAG ( Oesterlen, Gade, & Seitz-Stein, 2016 ) allows for a more economic assessment of WM in groups. However, so far, only few studies have empirically validated the comparability of WM scores obtained in individual and group setting. To close this gap, N = 89 children between 7 and 10 years of age ( M = 8.8 years, SD = 0.6 years) were administered four WM tasks of EI-MAG individually as well as in groups. The analyses show that independent of WM task, there are no mean score differences between individual and group setting. It can be concluded that automatized WM assessment with EI-MAG leads to comparable results in individual and group setting.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore residents' and assessors' perception of a new group assessment concept. Methods: This qualitative study consists of observations of four group assessment sessions, followed by semi-structured interviews with six residents and four assessors (specialists in internal medicine), who all volunteered to be interviewed. All residents at a medical department (eleven to fifteen each time) and four assessors participated in four group assessments, where the residents' clinical skills were assessed through case-based discussions. An external consultant (an anthropologist) performed the observations and the interviews. Notes from the observations and the interviews were analyzed using an inductive approach. Results: Eight of the ten interviewed participants preferred group assessment to individual assessment. Results from the interviews suggested that the group assessments were more consistent and that the level of discussion was perceived to be higher in the group discussions compared to the one-to-one discussions. All residents indicated that they had acquired new knowledge during their assessment and reported having learned from listening to the assessment of their peers. Assessors similarly reported gaining new knowledge. Conclusions: The residents and assessors expressed very favourable attitudes toward the new group assessment concept. The assessment process was perceived to be higher in quality and more consistent, contributing to learning for all participating doctors in the department. Group assessment is feasible and acceptable, and provides a promising tool for assessment of clinical skills in the future.

Insomnia is a significant public health concern. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is considered first-line treatment. The use of telemedicine for CBT-i allows for increased access to providers for patients who are geographically remote as well as to self-directed CBT-i modalities that do not require the involvement of a therapist. Tele-CBT-i modalities include video conferencing with a CBT-i therapist in an individual or group setting or use of Web or mobile application-based CBT-i modules with varying levels of support from a therapist. Multiple studies and meta-analyses support the efficacy of tele-CBT-i when compared with face-to-face CBT-i and placebo.

The effects of (a) private room, (b) typical classroom, and (c) high-distraction room test settings were examined on the math test performance of six college students (four females) with ADHD. Participants (aged 18–30 years) completed multiple, equivalent algebra calculation tests (100 items each) under the three test-setting conditions. A multi-element design was used to compare the number of items attempted (test access) and percentage correct (accuracy). Students also rated their level of distraction after each testing session on a Likert-type scale. Results showed that students found the high-distraction setting more distracting than other settings and that five of six students accessed more test items in the private room versus the high-distraction setting, with three of the six demonstrating nonoverlapping data across settings. A regular classroom setting did not produce a high level of distraction, nor did it restrict student access to the math tests relative to a private room setting. These findings suggest that some students with ADHD are affected negatively by highly distracting environments and may benefit from a quiet, private test setting. Single-case experimental designs may be useful for examining individual differences among students with disabilities receiving specific test accommodations.

The need for helping professionals to provide services from a trauma-informed perspective has been receiving increasing attention. The primary goal of adopting a trauma-informed approach is to prevent inadvertent re-traumatization during service provision, and to ensure people receive appropriate services in a non-pathologizing manner. However, despite the growing recognition of trauma-informed approaches, there is lack of clarity in the literature about their application to group settings. This paper examines this area of service provision by: outlining the key concepts of trauma-informed practice; describing the relevance of these concepts to group work; identifying specific benefits of becoming trauma-informed; and providing best practice recommendations and cautionary notes for group work practitioners. These recommendations include: (1) assessing for past trauma prior to commencing groups; (2) developing safety and respect within the group setting; (3) focusing on building affect regulation and self-care skills at the beginning of groups; (4) minimizing possibilities for re-traumatization through containment strategies; and (5) recognizing and responding to the potential contributions of oppression and marginalization to traumatic life experiences.

Limitations: Participants in our study are divided into two groups based on a criterion that is likely to have been too weak to induce strong group identity. Measures that enhance the sense of group identity need to be introduced in future studies.

This chapter explores our evolutionary, ancestral and individual relationship with cooking and its symbolic, connecting potential to enhance relational bonding – the Latin word for “company” is con-panis, “with bread.” The author’s journey to develop Kitchen Therapy is charted; her experiences as a child and a mother, working as a cookery teacher and from psychotherapy training. This innovative, creative therapy combines talk therapy with cooking and can take place in the consulting room, dedicated kitchen or community kitchen and can be used with individuals, couples, parent-child pairs, and with groups. The process of cooking taps into deep embodied memories; as Freud saw dreams as the Royal Road to the Unconscious, our relationship with food opens pathways into the inner world where our stories around feeding, cooking and eating continue to nourish (or poison) our lives, from cradle to grave. Kitchen Therapy focuses on the process of cooking over its product, recognising we need both psychological nutrition (love) and physical nutrition (food). The rationale and practice of Kitchen Therapy is described, with examples from psychotherapy with an individual and in a group setting. An appendix is provided describing how the principles of KT can be used to enhance traditional psychotherapy.

Purpose Group prenatal care, which integrates medical care with patient education and empowerment in a group setting, has the potential to build social support among pregnant women and reduce the risk of postpartum depression (PPD). Past research on group care’s effects on social support or PPD has produced inconsistent findings. Studies have tended to (1) examine direct effects on social support or PPD and (2) treat group care participation as a dichotomous variable. This study tests the hypothesis that group care has an indirect effect on PPD through its effect on social support. It uses both a dichotomous measure of group care participation and an ordinal measure of social contact with group members. Method This study used survey data from 199 women at two Tennessee health care sites who participated in traditional care (TC) or Supportive Pregnancy Care (SPC), a new group program developed by March of Dimes. Path analysis was employed, estimating standardized path coefficients with propensity score weighted multilevel modeling. Results The study found no evidence of an indirect relationship between SPC and PPD symptoms when modeling the dichotomous measure. Modeling the ordinal measure revealed more favorable PPD outcomes among women reporting high group member contact (compared with TC) and adverse outcomes among women reporting low group member contact. Conclusion SPC may be useful for preventing PPD symptoms among women socially engaged with other group care patients. Given the adverse effect among women who do not engage with other group members, group facilitators should encourage women to interact outside of scheduled sessions.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are strongly associated with suicide deaths. However, SUD treatment is associated with lower suicide risk. To this date, we know little about whether SUD counselors are sufficiently knowledgeable about suicide and feel prepared and comfortable with treating and assessing their suicidal clients. This study was designed to characterize SUD counselors’ general knowledge and confidence in treating suicidal clients, which was measured by their self-report of general knowledge of suicide prevention and belief in common myths about suicide as well as their self-reported confidence in treating suicidal clients. We hypothesized that confidence would be greater for counselors with more years of education and experience, that degree of education would predict greater knowledge and fewer beliefs in suicide myths, and finally that those counselors with greater knowledge and fewer beliefs in myths would have more confidence when treating suicidal clients. A total of 118 SUD counselors from 15 sites in Western Washington State agreed to participate in the study and completed baseline assessments. They were consented in group setting, usually during a staff meeting, and they were administered surveys on tablet computers. On average, the SUD counselors answered more than half the knowledge questions correctly and disagreed or strongly disagreed with common suicide myths. Their confidence in treating suicidal clients scored across the entire range. Our hypotheses were not supported: Confidence was not greater for those with more education or with more years of experience; degree of education and experience did not predict fewer beliefs in suicide myths; degree of education and experience did not predict greater knowledge; and greater knowledge and fewer beliefs in myths did not predict more confidence. The surprising finding that neither general suicide knowledge nor confidence were associated with the years of their work experience as a SUD counselor nor the level of their education and neither was associated with the other suggests that SUD treatment leadership should not depend on experience, education, general suicide knowledge to assure counselors are confidently able to treat suicidal clients. New or more precise training methods should be considered and evaluated.

Mate value – the assessment of one's potential worth as a sexual or romantic partner – is influenced by a variety of factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the individual being evaluated. One of these extrinsic factors, the appearance of the potential partner in a group setting rather than alone, has been shown to increase a person's mate value as assessed via physical attractiveness, a circumstance dubbed the cheerleader effect. The current study provides additional support for this effect with a conceptual replication demonstrating an increase in ratings of targets when those targets are presented in a group compared to when presented singly. However, this effect is moderated by several factors, including target sex, target baseline level of attractiveness, the level of attractiveness of the members of the group, and whether the target is being rated on physical attractiveness or overall value as a short-term or long-term partner. In short, the cheerleader effect was evident for ratings of female attractiveness and ratings of male and female value as romantic partners, but then only when (a) the group contained at least some highly attractive individuals and (b) the individuals being evaluated met a minimum level of attractiveness.

We investigated whether early algebra lessons that explicitly aimed to elicit mathematical discussions (shift-problem lessons) invoke more and qualitatively better mathematical discussions and raise students’ mathematical levels more than conventional lessons in a small group setting. A quasi-experimental study (pre- and post-test, control group) was conducted in 6 seventh-grade classes (N = 160). An analysis of the interaction processes of five student groups showed that more mathematical discussions occurred in the shift-problem condition. The quality of the mathematical discussions in the shift-problem condition was better compared to that in the conventional textbook condition, but there is still more room for improvement. A qualitative illustration of two typical mathematical discussions in the shift-problem condition are provided. Although students’ mathematical levels were raised a fair amount in both conditions, no differences between conditions were found. We concluded that shift-problem lessons are powerful for eliciting mathematical discussions in seventh-grade shift-problem early algebra lessons.

Emotion-focused group therapy is a relatively new therapy format that utilizes individual emotion-focused therapy (EFT) work in a group setting to evoke and transform painful emotions, both directl...

Information about novel environments or foods can be gathered via individual or social learning. Whereas individual learning is assumed to be more costly and less effective than social learning, it also yields more detailed information. Juveniles are often found to be more explorative than adults. Still under the protection of their parents, this allows them to sample their environment in preparation for later in life. We tested individual and social learning in jackdaws (Corvus monedula) of different age groups in a semi-natural group setting. Juvenile and adult jackdaws differed in their learning propensity. Juveniles spent more time at the test apparatus, were more explorative, and caused the apparatus to open. Almost all the openings at the apparatus matched the demonstrated method. As more observers became available, the juveniles could observe each other. Individuals preferentially watched successful conspecifics and those they could scrounge food from. Lower-ranking individuals tended to watch higher ranking ones; higher ranking individuals preferentially watched conspecifics of similar rank. The control group did not manipulate the apparatus. Due to the lack of this baseline, it was difficult to determine for certain whether the opening technique was acquired via individual or social learning. We conclude that if social learning played a role, the underlying mechanism was most likely local or stimulus enhancement. It is, however, more parsimonious to assume that juveniles were more explorative than adults, and that their opening technique was potentially easier to acquire than the one demonstrated to adults.

Purpose: To examine change in gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP) following repeated periods of intensive physiotherapy in real-life group-settings, with expected motor develo...

Perching is a natural behavior of poultry. Considerable research has been done to explore the relationship between group overall perch usage and well-being of laying hens. To quantify the potential cause-effect relationship on individual hens with different health or well-being status (e.g., keel bone deformation, foot pad lesion, social ranking) in a group, it is necessary to identify the perching behavior of individual birds. However, continuously monitoring individual birds in a group poses considerable challenges. To enable such research and potential commercial application, this study developed and validated a radio frequency identification (RFID) based automated perching monitoring system (APMS) for characterizing individual perching behaviors of group-housed poultry. The APMS consisted of an RFID module, a load cell module, and a round wooden perch. The RFID module was comprised of a high-frequency RFID reader, three customized rectangular antennas placed under the perch, and RFID transponders attached to the birds. The load cell module was comprised of a data acquisition system and two load cells supporting both ends of the perch. The daily number of perch visits (PV) and perching duration (PD) for individual birds were used to delineate perching behavior. Three identical experimental pens, five hens per pen, were equipped with the monitoring system. Two RFID transponders were attached to each hen (one per leg), and a distinct color was marked on the bird’s head for video or visual identification and validation. Performance of the APMS was validated by comparing the system outputs with manual observation and labeling over an entire day. Sensitivity and specificity of the system were shown to improve from 97.77% and 99.88%, respectively when using only the RFID module to 99.83% and 99.93% when incorporating weight information from the load cell module. Using this system, we conducted a preliminary trial on the relationship of perching behavior and body weight of laying hens, which revealed little effect of body weight but considerable variability in perching behavior among the individual hens. The study demonstrated that the APMS had excellent performance in measuring perching behaviors of individual birds in a group. The APMS offers great potential for delineating individual differences in perching behavior among hens with different social status or health conditions in a group setting. Keywords: Individual perching behavior, Laying hen, Load cell, Precision livestock farming, RFID, Welfare.

Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) are patient-centered care tools designed to administer patient counseling and education, typically delivered individually, in a group setting. SMAs are effective in facilitating peer-learning, resulting in improvement in knowledge and health behavior. This study aimed to implement what we know of as the first ophthalmology SMA done in the United States. We evaluated the implementation feasibility, patient and provider experience, changes in patient knowledge, and provider stress. Five glaucoma patients who expressed issues with adherence during their clinic visit at Boston Medical Center (BMC) who were interested in the SMA were recruited. Patients and staff had a positive experience with the SMA. There was a marked increase in patient glaucoma knowledge and a decrease in average staff member stress level score during the SMA. From all standpoints, including billing and management, we conclude that SMA implementation is feasible in ophthalmology departments in academic settings.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to highlight the role of not-for-profit (NFP) organisations in enhancing disaster preparedness. The authors set out to understand their perspectives and practices in regard to disaster preparedness activities to support people who live precarious lives, especially those who live as single parents who are the least prepared for disasters.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 staff members, either in a group setting or individually, from seven NFP organisations, who were located in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) and Kaiapoi in Aotearoa New Zealand. These participants were interviewed eight years after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.FindingsFour key narrative tropes or elements were drawn from across the interviews and were used to structure the research results. These included: “essential” support services for people living precarious lives; assisting people to be prepared; potential to support preparedness with the right materials and relationships; resourcing to supply emergency goods.Originality/valueThis research contributes to disaster risk reduction practices by advocating for ongoing resourcing of NFP groups due to their ability to build a sense of community and trust while working with precarious communities, such as single parents.