Learning portal
For enrolled learners, faculty, and partner sites
Enter the password from your welcome email. Lessons, slide decks, handouts, and post-tests are inside.
This lock is a courtesy, not security. Before launch the host must protect this folder (see CLAUDE.md). Nothing confidential belongs here until then.
CHW 102: Communication, Advocacy and Community Resources
102.4 Teaching Groups and Facilitating Support Groups
Planning a 30 minute session, group dynamics, and simple evaluation
Your materials
Slides (PowerPoint) Handout (Word)
For instructors
Facilitator guide Printable pre and post tests Quiz (LMS import)
What you will learn
- Plan a 30 minute health education session with one to three key points
- Apply adult learning ideas and simple visual aids
- Set ground rules and manage common group dynamics
- Evaluate a session with a quick pre and post check
Start here
Think of the best class or group you ever attended. What did the leader do that made it work?
Lesson
How adults learn best
Adults come to a group with a lifetime of knowledge.
- Make it useful: Adults want to know why it matters and how to use it this week.
- Use their experience: Ask what people already know and do. The group often teaches itself.
- Solve real problems: Build the session around a real problem, like cooking with less salt on a budget.
- Respect choice: Adults want a say. Offer options and let people set their own goals.
A 30 minute session plan
| Minutes | Part | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | Welcome | Names, ground rules, quick pre-check |
| 5 to 10 | Open | Question or story that connects to their lives |
| 10 to 20 | Teach | One to three key points with a visual |
| 20 to 25 | Practice | Hands-on task or small group talk |
| 25 to 30 | Close | Teach-back, post-check, resources, next steps |
Visual aids that help
Helpful
- Real objects, like a food label or cuff
- Large print with lots of white space
- Pictures that look like the community
- One idea per poster or slide
Not helpful
- Slides packed with small words
- Medical terms with no explanation
- Charts no one can read from the back
- Handouts only in English for a mixed group
Ground rules the group makes
Build rules together in the first session and post them.
- What is said here stays here: Share what you learned, not who said what.
- One voice at a time: Listen fully before you respond.
- Speak for yourself: Use I statements and share only what you choose.
- Right to pass: No one has to answer or share.
- Respect differences: Disagree with ideas, never attack people.
Managing group dynamics
| What you see | What you can do |
|---|---|
| One person talks a lot | Thank them, then invite others to speak |
| Someone stays quiet | Use pairs; invite but never force |
| Side talk or phones | Pause, return to ground rules kindly |
| Wrong health information shared | Thank them, then share the correct fact gently |
| Someone becomes upset | Offer a break and check in privately |
| Conflict between members | Name it calmly, return to shared rules |
Upstream: who is missing from the room
- What we see: A diabetes class at a Glenville rec center keeps losing people after week two.
- Why it happens (upstream): The class meets at 2 p.m. when many people work, there is no childcare, and the bus stop is three blocks away after dark.
- What we can build on (assets): A church fellowship hall near the bus line, teen volunteers for childcare, evening hours, and members who can bring a neighbor.
Support group basics
A support group is people with a shared experience helping each other.
- Members lead: The facilitator guides; members share wisdom from lived experience.
- Same time, same place: Meet on a regular schedule, and tell members the next date.
- Safety first: Have ground rules, privacy and a crisis plan ready, and review them each meeting.
- Know your limits: Support groups are not therapy. Refer people who need more help to the right services.
Situation: the confident wrong answer
Situation: In a blood pressure class at a Slavic Village church, Mr. Kowalski tells the group he stopped his pills because garlic works better. Two others nod.
How do you respond?
- Thank him for sharing and acknowledge interest in natural foods
- Say clearly that only a provider can decide to stop medicine
- Invite the group to bring medicine questions to their doctor or pharmacist
- Speak with him privately after class and offer to help him call his provider
Did it work? Quick evaluation
- Pre-check: Ask two or three short questions before you teach.
- Post-check: Ask the same questions at the end and compare.
- One thing I will do: Ask each person to name one action they will take.
- Count and note: Record attendance, results and comments without names.
- Improve and share: Change what did not work and share results with partners.
Study sheet
The big idea: Good groups build on what people already know, keep everyone safe, and check whether learning happened.
Key points
- Adults learn best when it is useful now, builds on their experience, and solves real problems.
- Plan a 30 minute session around one to three key points, with practice and teach-back.
- Use clear visuals, real objects, plain language, and materials in the group's languages.
- Build ground rules together, including privacy and the right to pass, and explain the limits of confidentiality.
- Manage dynamics calmly; correct wrong health information gently and stay within CHW scope.
- Use a quick pre and post check, record results without names, and share what you learn.
Remember
- One to three key points per session
- Welcome, open, teach, practice, close
- Crisis in a group: 988, or 911 for immediate danger, then tell your supervisor
- Support groups are not therapy: know your referrals
Ask yourself
- What do I do when one person takes over a group?
- Where in my neighborhood do people already gather, and could a group meet there?
Vocabulary
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Health education session | A planned class that helps a group learn and practice a health skill. |
| Adult learning | Ideas about how adults learn best: useful, problem-centered, building on experience, with choice. |
| Key points | The one to three most important things people need to know or do. |
| Visual aid | A picture, object, poster or slide that helps people understand and remember. |
| Ground rules | Agreements a group makes together about how members will treat each other. |
| Group dynamics | The ways people in a group act and react to each other. |
| Facilitator | The person who guides a group so everyone can take part safely. |
| Support group | People who share an experience meeting regularly to help one another. |
| Pre and post check | The same short questions asked before and after a session to see what people learned. |
| Evaluation | Checking whether a session or program did what it set out to do. |
Real-life situations
The silent room
You lead a nutrition class for new parents at a Lorain library branch. When you ask a question, no one answers.
What to do
- Wait a few seconds; silence is normal
- Turn the question into a pair talk for two minutes
- Ask an easier, personal question, like a favorite family meal
- Use a real object, like a food label, to get hands and talk going
Why: Pairs and concrete objects lower the pressure, so more people take part.
The caregiver who breaks down
In a caregiver support group in East Cleveland, Ms. Thompson begins to cry and says she cannot go on like this.
What to do
- Stay calm, acknowledge her feelings, and offer a short break
- Check in privately and ask directly if she is thinking of harming herself
- If yes, stay with her and call or text 988 together, or call 911 for immediate danger
- If no, offer caregiver and respite resources, tell your supervisor, and follow up
Why: Group members sometimes reach a crisis. Asking directly and following protocol keeps people safe.
Planning in the community's space
A block club in Clark-Fulton asks you to teach a session on heat safety in their summer meeting. Many members prefer Spanish.
What to do
- Ask the block club leaders what members most want to know
- Plan one to three key points and a hands-on part
- Arrange a qualified interpreter or bilingual co-facilitator and Spanish materials
- Do a quick pre and post check and share results with the block club
Why: Planning with the community and meeting language needs makes the session useful and respectful.
Activity: Plan your 30 minute session
About 25 minutes.
- Pick a health topic your community cares about.
- Write one to three key points in plain language.
- Fill in the five-part plan: welcome, open, teach, practice, close.
- Write two pre and post check questions and choose one visual aid.
- Post your plan in the course discussion and give feedback to one classmate.
Post-test
Ten questions. You need 75% to pass, with one retake. Your result is saved in this browser.