Starting a support group
A good group is steady, welcoming and clear about what it is. These pages help you settle the basics before your first meeting.
These materials support group conversation. They are not therapy, crisis intervention or medical advice.
Decide the purpose
- • Name who the group is for — care partners of all kinds, not only spouses.
- • Say plainly what the group offers: shared experience, practical ideas and company.
- • Say what it does not offer: therapy, medical advice or answers to every question.
Choose a simple format
- • Same day, same time, same place. Predictability brings people back.
- • Sixty minutes is enough. Ninety only if the group asks for it.
- • Six to twelve people allows everyone to speak.
- • Decide whether the person living with dementia attends, joins a parallel activity, or both.
Set expectations together
- • What is said here stays here, except when someone may be in danger.
- • Everyone gets time. No one has to speak.
- • We share experience rather than give advice.
- • We can disagree and still care about each other.
Your role as facilitator
- • Open the door, keep time and protect the quieter voices.
- • Ask, listen and summarize more than you explain.
- • You are not expected to solve anyone's situation.
- • Know where to point people for qualified help, and point early.
A first meeting, hour by hour
- 1. Welcome and settling in
- 2. Opening check-in
- 3. Introduce today's topic
- 4. Guided group conversation
- 5. Practical ideas and shared wisdom
- 6. Closing reflection or “glimmer”
- 7. Optional resources and next steps