Sense of competence and health-related quality of life in members of self-help groups

Self-help groups have been credited with an important role for individuals coming to terms with their illnesses. So far there has been little informat ion on which health-related aspects of quality of life are to be found in m embers of self-help groups and to what extent these are connected with othe r group-related and individual characteristics. A representative sample of 306 members of various self-help groups was investigated in terms of health -related quality of life, belief in their competence and monitoring functio n and subjectively perceived changes as a result of being part of the group . The results showed that quality of life was estimated at different levels depending on the group but was generally lower than for the healthy popula tion as a whole. The more important patients felt the self-help group to be , the more self-confident and active they were, the less they let themselve s be driven by external influences and the greater their psychological well -being.