The Strength, Hope and Resourcefulness Program for People with Parkinson's Disease: A Qualitative Investigation of Helpful Group Processes

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor and non-motor features. Many people with PD struggle with mental health issues such as depression. Evidence shows that people with PD may have trouble adopting a hopeful or positive orientation given their diagnosis and symptoms. Psychological treatments for PD are scarce and even more scarce are treatments that specifically focus on promoting hope and well-being. The Strengths, Hope, and Resourcefulness Program for People with Parkinson’s Disease was developed to begin to address this treatment gap. This qualitative study used in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 participants to identify seven processes group members found helpful during treatment: Accessing Hope, Comparing, Drawing Together, Reaching Beyond Self, Releasing Emotion, Sharing Skills/Picking Up Resources, and Self-Reflecting/Personal Insight. The unique contributions of an intentional and explicit hope, strengths, and resources intervention are discussed with specific attention to therapeutic process and practice. This study was reviewed and approved by the Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Alberta (ID # Pro00065937).