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This publication is based on a research thesis which examined self‐help ethnic minority organisations and their activities in order to construct an accurate picture of the library and information needs of their members. It identified the kinds of co‐operation that existed between self‐help ethnic minority organisations and public libraries and other relevant official agencies. A series of models for co‐operation that could take place between public libraries, other relevant agencies and self‐help organisations was constructed.

In 1920 Margaret Sanger called voluntary motherhood “the key to the temple of liberty” and noted that women were “rising in fundamental revolt” to claim their right to determine their own reproductive fate (Rothman, 2000, p. 73). Decades later Barbara Katz Rothman reflected on the social, political and legal changes produced by reproductive-rights feminists since that time. She wrote: So the reproductive-rights feminists of the 1970s won, and abortion is available – just as the reproductive-rights feminists of the 1920s won, and contraception is available. But in another sense, we did not win. We did not win, could not win, because Sanger was right. What we really wanted was the fundamental revolt, the “key to the temple of liberty.” A doctor’s fitting for a diaphragm, or a clinic appointment for an abortion, is not the revolution. It is not even a woman-centered approach to reproduction (2000, p. 79).

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative analysis of the role of self-harm self-help groups from the perspective of group members.

A qualitative case study approach guided the research, which involved working with two self-harm self-help groups and all regularly attending members.

A thematic approach to the analysis of the findings indicates that self-harm self-help groups can provide a safe, non-judgemental space where those who self-harm can meet, listen and talk to others who share similar experiences for reciprocal peer support. Offering a different approach to that experienced in statutory services, the groups reduced members’ isolation and offered opportunities for learning and findings ways to lessen and better manage their self-harm.

This was a small-scale qualitative study, hence it is not possible to generalise the findings to all self-harm self-help groups.

The value of peers supporting one another, as a means of aiding recovery and improving well-being, has gained credence in recent years, but remains limited for those who self-harm. The findings from this research highlight the value of self-help groups in providing opportunities for peer support and the facilitative role practitioners can play in the development of self-harm self-help groups.

Self-harm self-help groups remain an underexplored area, despite such groups being identified as a valuable source of support by its members. This research provides empirical evidence, at an individual and group level, into the unique role of self-harm self-help groups.

This article discusses the labelling and location of self‐organising community groups ‐ ‘self‐help’, ‘peer support’ and ‘service user’. It notes the increasingly close relationship between these groups and statutory authorities, and how this relationship may put the benefits of the groups at risk. Historical, cultural and social factors are discussed to help explain differences and separate developments within African, Caribbean and other Black communities.

This article aims to describe how a self‐help group for people with cancer helped members regain mental well‐being. It is set within the context of the ESTEEM project which aims to develop guidelines for health and social care professionals on how to support self‐help groups.

The article is based on personal experience of belonging to the self‐help group. It also draws on a participatory qualitative study of 21 self‐help groups concerned with a range of health and social issues, carried out for the ESTEEM project.

Group members regained a sense of control over their lives, developed supportive relationships and participated in collective activities. They saw other members redefine their identity, not as victims but as people with a purpose in life. Early findings from the ESTEEM project suggest that other self‐help groups similarly promote social inclusion and mental well‐being.

ESTEEM is a three stage programme still underway and conclusions are not yet finalised. Interview questions did not focus on well‐being; the association emerged during analysis.

The authors argue that the member‐led nature of self‐help groups is safe and effective in promoting well‐being. Top‐down monitoring and evaluation requirements are unhelpful.

This article and the ESTEEM project aim to increase the options available to commissioners and professionals wishing to promote mental well‐being.

Self‐help groups are seldom mentioned in the literature on well‐being. This article starts to fill this gap.

This article relates one aspect of an action research project on work related stress and mental health problems to its wider context. It is argued that self‐help/mutual aid, including self‐management, could make an important contribution to tackling the current epidemic of work‐related stress in the UK and elsewhere. Initiatives such as the government's Work‐Life Balance campaign indicate that the policy context is appropriate. An overview of the causes, costs of, and policy responses to work‐related stress is followed by a discussion on the nature of self‐help/mutual aid and the benefits that the sharing of experiential knowledge can bring to participants. This includes a specific, structured form of self‐help: self‐management programmes as led and used by mental health user groups. We conclude that self‐help initiatives can make a valuable contribution to addressing work‐related stress if employers support them. Beyond simply ameliorating staff retention problems, the experiential learning communities that could be created could be an asset, particularly in seeking to change workplace cultures to minimise work‐related mental stresses.

The purpose of the paper is to show the importance of considering patients’ and citizens’ associations for understanding users’ involvement in health care systems.

The paper is based on both qualitative and quantitative data on Italy drawn from various sources (national statistics, own survey data, qualitative interviews).

Although the paper avoids an excessively positive view of the success and frequency of collective patients’ participation, it nevertheless shows that the Italian National Health Care System (NHS) is undergoing important changes in this regard. Voice and co-production among patients, health care services and professionals have become more common and important also because of forms of collective action. Professionals themselves often belong to or promote such associations and groups. The Italian case also shows that voice and co-production tend frequently to merge into a single complex strategy where patients’ requests go along with their direct involvement in health care provision.

The study provides useful information for policy makers considering the implementation of policies that promote collective action in order to increase an active users’ participation in health care.

This is one of the limited number of Italian studies which investigates users’ involvement in the NHS and collective action, thus adding knowledge to the limited research in this field.

Self Help Services is a pioneering charity in how it champions personal experience of mental health and uses these experiences in the treatment of people living with common mental health problems – anxiety, depression, phobias, and low self‐esteem issues. This paper aims to describe how the charity grew from one individual's journey with agoraphobia to being the main provider of primary care mental health services in the North West of England.

The paper charts the growth of Self Help Services over time, with a particular focus on its employment of people with personal mental health problems. It describes the experiences of its founder and Chief Officer and includes case studies of a user of its e‐therapy services and the charity's Informatics and Governance Lead.

The case studies illustrate how the charity has grown in both size and success as a result of harnessing the skills and experience of large numbers of staff and volunteers living with a mental health problem. The case studies illustrate that, rather than being an issue, these personal experiences are vital tools in helping others work through their own difficulties.

The paper provides a detailed overview of a charity which was unique when it was formed and now thrives as a result of its uniqueness. It provides other similar organisations with advice on lessons learnt along the way, and advice for individuals or groups looking to establish similar organisations.

Posits that the disappointing results of external and formal development aid in recent decades have drawn increasing attention to co‐operatives and other community or informal economies which are often attributed a more promising developmental potential due to the shared values of the group members and their identification with collectable goals. Gives the example of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh which often serves as the prime example of this assumption. Examines how far these factors ‐ which are beyond the scope of traditional economic theory ‐ influence the success of organizations. Concludes that rather mutual social control conditions of a geographically immobile and homogeneous population in a small rural community must be regarded as the basis of the success of community and informal economies.

The process of knowledge production is usually assigned to scientists who use specific methods to extract knowledge from someone else's experience. Usually this includes collecting, aggregating and interpreting data from an uninvolved point of view; that is, from the outside. This procedure is supposed to guarantee objectivity and generalisation. Many child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors reject such an approach that turns them into objects again. This presents a problem for research because it limits the number and contribution of potential participants and can lead to bias. In self-help groups of CSA survivors, an enormous amount of experiential knowledge accumulates, and sometimes this is transferred into more than only individually valid knowledge. Based on this experience and aiming for more agency of CSA Survivors, a group of adult survivors and researchers developed a new approach to research. It focuses on the development of self-organised research, which enables survivors of sexualised violence to practice research without losing agency. They are indispensable and elementary parts in all phases of the process. This chapter shows one way of formalising this process so quality criteria can be developed and applied. Following the presented approach, evaluation of the presented methods is the appropriate next step because self-help groups give reason to estimate significant outcomes. These outcomes not only enable self-help groups of CSA survivors to incorporate new methods but also include the chance to empower adults, children or youth who have been victims of sexualised violence.