¶ … Recruitment Strategies
The group would consist of veterans who were members of a program designed to transition veterans from military to civilian life. Recruitment would be conducted through the director of the program who would inform potential participants of the option of taking part in a study. The director would need to stress the voluntary nature of the participation and the mutual benefits of counseling and support for participants as well as the benefits for the constructors of the study. As well as the free counseling, group members would also receive food and drink during the counseling sessions.
Selection would be determined by the willingness of individuals to participate in the program. The design of this study would qualitative and exploratory in nature. It would lay the groundwork for a larger, future, randomized control study. It is expected that the actual group size would be 7-10 members, a feasible size for a relatively open-ended interview and monitoring process. Ethical guidelines for study participation are defined as follows: "subjects ample time to consider, with no undue pressure because of timing of the request, who makes the request, how the request is made, or the offering of excessive inducements" ("The human research protection program," 2015).
6. Define group structure...
beginning, middle, and end) that you will role-play
There would be 'intake' (i.e., pre-participation interviews) and 'outtake' procedures to ethically transition members of the group from the participation phase to the outside world. Participation would be voluntary and could end at any time. However, to be recognized as participating in the study, participants would sign a contract stating they would attend at least two sessions per month. All participants would receive a letter informing them of the specifics of the program, the requirements for participation, and a clear discussion of how the information would be used in an ethically acceptable manner. Support group sessions would not be videotaped, but participants would be periodically asked through brief interviews over the course of the study how the support intervention was affecting their lives and how they viewed the efficacy of the process.
The actual role play would involve the middle process, during the qualitative study itself, when group participants were actively involved in the support group and receiving the transitional counseling.
7. Identify and assign group roles to members
Group participants would role play the study participants: the veterans themselves, taking on the roles…
