SUPPORT GROUPS IN MEXICO FOR NEUROLOGIC A ND PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS

In the last decades lay organizations have sprung as a result of socie ty organizing itself to fulfill the demands not met by private and gov ernment supported medical agencies. The spread of support groups (SG) has been associated with an increase in chronic and terminal condition s for which no cure has yet been found. Among these disorders, neurolo gical ailments such as stroke, epilepsy and degenerative illnesses, es pecially the ones related to the aging process, constitute one of the main research interests of SG. The goals of a professionally led SG in clude health education, management strategies for home care, respite s ervices and providing a friendly and supportive atmosphere for partici pants to share their burden. A revision of the literature on SG is out lined in the present work. A description of the SG functioning through out the Ministry of Health in Mexico City are mentioned together with the programme on SG for neuropsychiatric disorders designed at the Res earch Division of the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery .