In a support group, members provide each other with various types of nonprofessional, nonmaterial help for a particular shared burdensome characteristic. The help may take the form of providing relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also provide ancillary support, such as serving as a public relations voice or engaging in advocacy.

Maintaining contact

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Support groups maintain interpersonal contact among their members in a variety of ways. Most groups have traditionally met in person in group sizes that allowed conversational interaction. Support groups also maintain contact through printed newsletters, telephone chains, internet forums, and mailing lists. Some support groups are exclusively Online_support_groups.

Membership in some support groups is formally controlled, with admission requirements and membership fees. Other groups are "open" and allow anyone to drop in at an advertised meeting, for example, or to participate in an online forum.

More on [ Support group ]

National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases

Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Roots
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:45:00 -0400
A trio of genome-wide studies -- collectively the largest to date -- have pinpointed a vast array of genetic variation that cumulatively may account for at least one third of the genetic risk for schizophrenia. One of the studies traced schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in part, to the same chromosomal neighborhoods.
Imaging Technique Allows Researchers to Monitor Protein Changes in Mouse Tumors
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:05:00 -0400
A new imaging technique can monitor, in living mice, the HER2 protein found in above-normal amounts in many cases of breast cancer as well as some ovarian, prostate and lung cancers. This new approach, once validated in mice and pending further experiments, could provide a real-time noninvasive method for identifying tumors in humans who express HER2 and who would be candidates for targeted therapy directed against this protein. It may also provide real-time information that will help clinicians optimize treatment for individual patients. The study, published in the July 2009 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, both parts of the National Institutes of Health.
Dynasty: Influenza Virus in 1918 and Today
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:10:00 -0400
The influenza virus that wreaked worldwide havoc in 1918-1919 founded a viral dynasty that persists to this day, according to scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. In an article published online on June 29 by the New England Journal of Medicine, authors Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., and David M. Morens, M.D., argue that we have lived in an influenza pandemic era since 1918, and they describe how the novel 2009 H1N1 virus now circling the globe is yet another manifestation of this enduring viral family.

CNN.com - Health

Police: Hospital worker swiped shots, spread hep C
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:18:42 -0400
A former hospital employee may have exposed hundreds or thousands of surgical patients to hepatitis C when she replaced clean needles filled with the powerful painkiller fentanyl with her own dirty needles filled with saline solution.
Health.com picks top beach, lake getaways
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:47:40 -0400
We know your summer vacation time is precious: You want to land where you can truly relax, breathe fresh air, get in some exercise and eat well -- without breaking the bank. That's why we teamed up with a panel of travel and health experts to help us find the healthiest of the nation's most popular beach and lake towns.

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