Cohort group Proposal

Cohort Group Proposal Project Guidelines The Cohort Group Proposal Project is designed as a collaborative group effort to design a group proposal as you might develop to present to your agency for development or to submit as a grant proposal. The group should be one applicable to a mental health agency or practice setting. In Week 2, your Instructor will assign you to a small group (3-4 people) with whom you will be collaborating on the Cohort Group Proposal Project in the discussions in Weeks 3 and 4 to conceptualize your proposed group. You are encouraged to engage with your group members synchronously using Collaborate, Skype, OneDrive, Google Docs, or other tools that allow for participation in real time by multiple group members. This collaborative effort offers you the opportunity to share ideas and work in a small group setting as you discuss options for an empirically based counseling group. You will share your ideas and learn from each and receive faculty guidance and feedback in the discussions as you compile your ideas. In Week 3, you will develop the rationale and objectives for your group proposal. This will require you to consider and respond to the following: • Identify a population who may benefit from your proposed group. Explain the prevalence of the problem and associated risk factors. (No children’s or addiction groups please.) • Identify the type of group that you believe will best serve the population’s need. • Each member should select at least one recent (published in the past 5–10 years), peer-reviewed journal article in APA formatting that supports the rationale for the group. Provide a brief summary (1–3 sentences) for your article(s) explaining why it supports your rationale. Be sure to include the Walden Library permalink or DOI so your colleagues and faculty may review the article. • If possible, find articles that are specific to group counseling for your chosen population. • State your initial objectives/goals in measurable terms (What can group members expect to change as a result of participating in your group?) In Week 4, you continue to develop your group proposal. You may continue to search the Walden Library databases for peer-reviewed articles that support the rationale for your Group Proposal. You will develop a Literature Review as the foundation for the group. You may begin a shared rough draft of your literature review (on Google docs) or use an outline form which organizes your main points supported by the literature. Week 4 requires you to respond to the following:

CO6250 Group Proposal Template

Title Page

Your title page should follow the new APA 7 format guidelines. The title should reflect the theme of your proposal in a way that captures the attention of your reader.

Rationale

This is a brief but compelling one-paragraph introduction to your proposal where you will introduce your population and the mental health issue that will be addressed. The rationale will include a brief description of the population, prevalence of the problem, and any risk/protective factors that will be addressed in your group. Remember that you are the expert who is introducing the population and need for your group to the reader. You want to attract your reader’s attention.

Literature Review (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48)

Please review the Writing Center Resources for Literature Review found here:

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/assignments/literaturereview

The literature review is a brief (1.5 pages) well-organized review of the current research (within 5-10 years) in group work with your population (or group related literature) which supports your proposal. The literature review demonstrates to your reader that your group has a reasonable chance of success. It will contain multiple in text citations written in an APA scholarly style.

Level 3 header, see APA p. 48)

[Paragraph]: Here you may again describe your population, but more in depth including any statistical prevalence of the problem. You are informing the reader about the specifics of your population and the extent of prevalence based on your research.

Level 3 header, see APA p. 48)

[Paragraph:] This should inform the reader of the first point. Often this is one of the risk factors or problems faced by the identified population. Your points should be related to and present the research related to your group objectives.

Level 3 header, see APA p. 48)

[Paragraph]: Continue until you have presented your points which support your group. Most projects have between 2-4 points.

[Paragraph]: This should be a concluding paragraph that summarized the relevance of the literature for your proposal and transitions the reader to the next section.

Group Goals and Objectives

[The rest of the paper may be more informal narrative style (maybe even include bullet points in outline format) but should be clear and concise. The goal is the change the members should expect in behavior, attitude, or mood. The objectives are the strategies which move the members toward goal attainment. The objectives should be related to the points from the literature review. The goal and objectives should also be measurable and written with outcome evaluation in mind.

Group Goal – The overall change your group will address

Objective 1 - a strategy or action that will help achieve the goal

Objective 2 - a strategy or action that will help achieve the goal

Strategies to achieve goal and objectives. (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48)

This is a summary of the evidence-based strategies (derived from your research) that will help you facilitate the group so that members may achieve the goal.

Evaluation of Goals and Objectives (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48)

Evaluation is how you will show your reader that your group has achieved its effect. Objective evaluation is an outcome measure related to the group goal and objectives. It should show that completion of the group experience has an impact. Subjective evaluation is a measure of group members experience. This helps facilitators to monitor progress and adjust if needed. Consult your course material for evaluation recommendations and methods.

Practical Considerations (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48)

There are three important areas to concisely address:

1. How will you screen for membership? (member selection criteria)

1. How will you address informed consent? (most important points)

1. How will you structure your group? (e.g., closed, size, number of sessions, length, location, etc.)

Diversity (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48) - Briefly highlight issues specific to your population and goal.

Termination and Resources (Level 2 header, see APA p. 48)

Briefly describe how you will bring closure to the group. Indicate the most important point for your population and suggest a strategy to help with “good-byes”. Also, what community resource(s) will you provide for your members as they leave the group?

References [Start on a separate page)