Effect of GROUPS 4 HEALTH on psychosocial barriers to health behaviour change and well-being among higher weight people

GROUPS FOR HEALTH (G4H) is a manualised psychotherapeutic group-based program, which is designed to improve health and well-being by increasing group-based belonging (Haslam et al., 2021a, 2021b). The G4H program was developed using social and clinical psychology research (Haslam et al., 2018) and has been evaluated and found to be efficacious in reducing depression, loneliness, and social anxiety in Phase I, II, and III trials (see Cruwys et al., 2021; Haslam et al., 2016, 2019). The G4H program consists of 5 modules which are completed over 8 weeks. Modules 1 to 4 will be run weekly, and Module 5 is run 4 weeks later, allowing participants to apply the social plans developed in Module 4. Each module runs between 60 to 90 minutes and will be facilitated by two trained and supervised facilitators (i.e., psychology postgraduate students who are provisionally registered as psychologists). All modules will be run face-to-face in the Australian National University Psychology Clinic in groups of 5 to 8 participants. In addition to the facilitator’s manual, the program is supported by a client workbook. The client workbook contains a summarised version of the facilitator’s manual highlighting the main activities and learning points for each session, and space for participants to complete in-session and homework activities. Homework activities provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on the module learnings and encourage participants to apply those learnings to their social networks and goals. For example, between Modules 1 and 2 participants will be asked to reflect on up to three challenging moments they have experienced in the past and how the people in their lives helped them or could have helped them overcome those challenges. Between Modules 4 and 5 participants will be asked to put their SMART plan in to action (which they develop during Module 4) and reflect on any barriers and successes they have in implementing their SMART plan in the weeks between Module 4 and 5. For all homework activities participants will be encouraged to write down their reflections in their workbook to discuss at the beginning of the next module.The amount of time participants spend on the homework activities will be at their discretion. Treatment fidelity is assessed by weekly supervision from a registered psychologist, and a brief questionnaire completed by facilitators at the end of each session delivered. This requires facilitators to tick off session activities covered, rate alliance and rapport between participants and with facilitator, indicate the length of session, and rate session satisfaction and ease of delivery. Module content is summarised below: Module 1 involves discussion of the importance of groups for health and well-being. In Module 2 clients complete a ‘social identity map’, which helps them to visualise their social network and map out how important their groups are to them, how they feel about each of their groups, and how their groups interact. Module 3 focuses on helping clients to manage their groups and discusses strategies they can use to manage conflict and get the most out of their group memberships. In Module 4 clients make a plan to improve their social connectedness, which they can action in the 4 weeks between Module 4 and Module 5. In Module 5, clients evaluate their progress, troubleshoot any barriers they experienced, and re-evaluate their social network by completing another ‘social identity map’. Citations for facilitator manual and client workbook: Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Bentley, S. V., Haslam, S. A., Dingle, G. A., & Jetten, J. (2021). GROUPS 4 HEALTH Facilitator Manual (version 4.0). Social Identity and Groups Network (SIGN), The University of Queensland, Australia. Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Bentley, S. V., Haslam, S. A., Dingle, G. A., & Jetten, J. (2021). GROUPS 4 HEALTH Workbook (version 4.0). Social Identity and Groups Network (SIGN), The University of Queensland, Australia.