The research assistant contacted all patients to provide more information about the meetings.
The instruments and informed consent forms were maild to patients to complete and bring to the first meeting.
At the last meeting, post test measurements were distributed to be completed and returned by mail one to two weeks after the last session.
Participants were reimbursed $15 for each meeting they attended and an additional $15 for completing the post test measurements.
The purpose of the reimbursement was to defray expenses for transportation, baby-sitting, and so forth and to encourage regular attendance so that the effectiveness of the complete intervention could be assessed.
The research assistant was introduced at the initial group meeting as a participant-observer.
He attended all meeting and recorded process notes, which were made available for review by group members.