Get Started
Help & Accessibility
NAVIGATION
Map
List of Questions
CONTENT
House & Living
Leisure & Mobility
Participation & Employment
Care & Support
Legal Framework
Forum/ Reflexion Tool
Self-help groups
What is a self-help group?
If you are looking for other people coping with the same situation as you, a self-help group might be useful. In a self-help group, people come together who suffer from the same conditions, addictions, or other problems, e.g. diabetes, cancer, alcohol, depression, separation, grief, etc. There are groups focusing on special disabilities, groups for people suffering from diseases as well as groups for people who care. Thus, it does not matter if you are in need of care or a carer yourself: You can find people being in a similar situation in a self-help group. Some groups are in your close neighbourhood, and you can personally meet other people. If not, you might find it easier to visit a group online.
Try it! Taking part in a group, you can:
- speak about your worries or problems,
- exchange information and experiences,
- learn to deal with your difficulties from one another,
- enjoy mutual encouragement and support.
Why is it helpful to go to a self-help group?
- You might feel alone in your situation, but there are other people coping with a similar situation. It might help you to get in contact with others who share your situation.
You can get new information and find alternative ways to deal with your problem.
- You can meet people with the same illness or get in touch with people who also care for a family member.
Talking to others you experience sympathy.
- All persons are different. No destiny is the same. But in a self-help group you can at least meet people, who understand your situation because they have similar experiences.
Being part of a group can help to feel strengthened and relieved.
- Altogether you experience that you are not alone, get new information, feel understood and get to know other people.
Are you unsure if a self-help group suits you?
Solve the crosswords and learn more about the characteristics of self-help groups that make them attractive to you! Just fill in the missing words and enjoy quizzing!
If you are not sure what you should expect at your first time going to a self-help group, you can watch our video pill here too.
How can I find a group?
Are you interested in a self-help group, but don’t know how to find one? You can find groups by searching the internet using keywords like self-help, self-help group and the topic you are looking for. You can combine that search with a locality and find physical groups in your region. You can also look for online-groups without a local basis.
You can ask for help too. If you suffer from a psychological illness, you might ask a psychologist, a social worker or hospital staff, if they can recommend a group to you. For groups on certain illnesses and disabilities, you can ask therapists, medicines, care services and social organisations that offer support. A helpful advisor are also patient-associations. They exist on varying topics concerning illnesses and disseminate relevant information to the public. Besides, there might be special bureaus that inform you on self-help groups in your region as in Germany. Please click here for further information about options in your country.
Did you not find a group on your topic?
Maybe you can start your own group! Social organisations can help you with this project too. In some countries there are also special offices to support self-help groups and their founders. You can find them here. Often psychological services and social counselling also form groups to improve their offers for people with care needs and disabilities.
Take Stephanie from Germany as an example. Visiting her local Parkinson’s group, she felt that the members were much older than her and that she had to face completely different challenges in coping with her illness. Although she liked the people, she did not feel well understood on all points and did not get to hear others’ experiences on all the topics relevant to her. Thus, she founded her group for young Parkinson patients and got to know people in a similar situation. Together they talk about difficulties such as employment, family life and disability pension. Through its members, she received valuable tips regarding her retirement too. She has built a new network and they developed common activities such as the sports group “ping-pong Parkinson” and a regular meeting to play parlour games together. Their common activities are not only a social benefit. They also help to train coordination and brain skills and finally decelerate the course of disease.
Good Practices
Voluntary association that promotes and supports Self Mutual Aid
AMALO is an organization dedicated to promoting Auto Mutuo Aiuto (AMA), or Self-Mutual Aid, by collaborating with other institutions to develop support networks and services within communities. It focuses on creating inclusive spaces where people facing similar challenges can share experiences, provide mutual support, and empower each other.
Mantelzorg centraal is a regional centre of expertise for informal carers. This centre works with several informal care organisations. Its platform includes news, information, personal stories, and helpful links to support services.
Finding and founding a self-help group with NAKOS
(Nationale Kontakt- und Informationsstelle zur Anregung und Unterstützung von Selbsthilfegruppen)
(National contact and information centre to encourage and support self-help groups)
NAKOS has been the nationwide information and mediation centre for self-help in Germany since 1984. It works on fundamental issues of self-help work, self-help support and promotion. Among other things, it offers a database for finding self-help groups and information about local self-help contact centres. They also provide information on how to set up a self-help group yourself and what you need to consider in order to find a reputable digital self-help group.
in.kontakt: an app for connecting family carers
The “Voice of Caregiving Relatives in Germany” is a nationwide lobby group for caregiving relatives and self-help organisations. Among other things, it offers an app called in.kontakt, which enables family carers to network with each other online. App name: in.kontakt.
Independent patient counselling
The foundation Unabhängige Patientenberatung Deutschland/ UPD (Independent patient counselling) is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to provide those seeking advice with comprehensive information and individual advice on health and health law issues free of charge. Among other information you can ask them for details about a fitting patient organisation for you.
Independent patient counselling
The staff unit patient participation of the Gemeinsamen Bundesausschuss (Joint Federal Committee) appoints four associations that represent the interests of patients and self-help organisations for chronically ill and disabled people in Germany at federal level.
The project provides a personalized intervention for the caregiver, carried out at home by a multidisciplinary technical team consisting of a Social Worker, Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, and Physical Trainer. The team works with the caregiver on strategies for the act of caring, tailored to the individual characteristics of the caregiver and the person they are caring for. The initiative also offers participation in sharing groups, where caregivers can exchange experiences and knowledge about caregiving and develop new relationships of support and mutual help. This helps strengthen the link between the caregiver and the local community and enables them to make active use of existing resources in their area.
Projeto Cuidar de quem cuida [Caring for Carers Project]
In Santa Maria da Feira, the “Cuidar de quem cuida” project is part of the Network of Municipalities Caring for Informal Caregivers (RACCI). It focuses on informal caregivers of people with dementia and post-stroke conditions, aiming to empower local institution professionals for networked intervention, thereby enhancing the well-being of both the caregiver and the care receiver. As part of their initiatives, they have established self-help groups to support caregivers in their roles.
The CARE4DEM project is an Erasmus+ initiative in which the Portuguese associations Aproximar and Caso50+ are partners. It aims to develop a new and innovative model of mutual support groups by introducing web-based tools and integrating them with other interventions to enhance caregiver satisfaction and reduce burnout. Additionally, the project seeks to expand the professional development of mutual support group facilitators by creating a network of mutual learning across Europe.
Lithuanian Society for the Care of People with Mental Disabilities
Founded in 1997, the Lithuanian Association for the Care of People with Mental Disabilities is the main umbrella organisation of the non-governmental sector, uniting people with mental disabilities, their families and communities throughout Lithuania.
List of Materials
How to start a peer contact group for informal carers?
MantelzorgNL offers an interactive training for professionals that teaches informal care consultants, social workers, and other professionals how they can organise and coordinate a peer contact group for informal carers
MantelzorgNL is the Dutch national informal care association. Its website features information on various topics, articles, tips and advice.
Mantelzorgelijk is a foundation promoting the interests of informal carers. It provides a platform where caregivers can share their knowledge, experiences, and feelings.
Mantelzorg centraal is a regional centre of expertise for informal carers. This centre works with several informal care organisations. Its platform includes news, information, personal stories, and helpful links to support services.
(National contact and information centre to encourage and support self-help groups)
NAKOS is the nationwide information and mediation body in the field of self-help in Germany since 1984. It works on fundamental issues of self-help work, self-help support and promotion. Among others, they offer a database to find self-help groups and information on local bureaus dealing with self-help groups.
Wir pflegen! e.V. (We care! e.V.)
Wir pflegen! e.V. is a nationwide interest group for family carers and self-help organisations. You can find details here. Among other things, the association offers an app called in.kontakt, which carers can use to network online.
Manual de Grupos Auto-Ajuda e Ajuda Mútua [Manual for Self-Help and Mutual Aid Groups]
This manual aims to guide the integration of people with a diagnosis of Unipolar or Bipolar disorder and their families, step by step, in an assertive manner, with the aim of achieving better mental health. Self-help groups and mutual aid groups, are one of the therapeutic forms of psychosocial rehabilitation, allowing access to a space for sharing experiences and knowledge, combating stigma, loneliness and isolation, with a view to health gains and a better quality of life and active citizenship.
“Vilnius Healthier” team offers self-help group for carers of people with disabilities or with long-term care needs.
Association for Oncology Patient Support (POLA)
Association for Oncology Patient Support represents and defends the interests of cancer patients in public authorities and institutions, implements public awareness companies and educational programs, provides targeted services to patients and their caregivers via POLA card programme, so that people affected by serious health problems would receive the best possible and the most appropriate assistance and support.
Arthritis Association of Lithuania
Arthritis Association of Lithuania unites persons with arthritis and their family members.
This association brings together patients with central nervous system tumours and their relatives.
Society of Multiple Sclerosis “Feniksai”
The society unites multiple sclerosis patients and their relatives and try to support them by providing information based on the latest scientific research, involves professionals of different fields like doctors, social workers, and others who give professional advice. Also helps patience and their relatives to solve various problems related with the MS and with its consequences.
This society brings together people with Parkinson’s disease and their families. It invites Parkinson’s patients, caregivers, friends, doctors, students and other people interested in Parkinson’s disease to join.