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A self-help program for widows as an independent community service.

J Rogers·M L Vachon·W A Lyall·A Sheldon·S J Freeman
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Abstract

Community Contacts for the Widowed, a self-help group in Toronto, offers individual and group counseling and volunteer work to widows. Beginning as a demonstration project funded by the provincial health ministry, the program became an independent charitable organization in 1976. Like many new self-help groups, the program employs peers who receive training in helping their clients by establishing a one-to-one supportive relationship. These peers, called widow contacts, also arrange group sessions and conduct community education on behalf of the program. Although reliance on a self-referral process limits the number of lower-class, immigrant, and other widows unwilling to reach out for help, since 1976 the program has helped more than 1500 women through their bereavement.

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Adaptation, PsychologicalAdultAttitudeCanadaCommunity Mental Health ServicesFemaleGriefHealth EducationHumansInterpersonal RelationsMaleMiddle AgedPeer GroupPsychotherapy, GroupSelf-Help GroupsComparative StudyJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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J Rogers, M L Vachon, W A Lyall, A Sheldon, S J Freeman. 1980. A self-help program for widows as an independent community service.. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.31.12.844

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