Sew You Think You Know About Leisure: Leisure Exploration & Participation 

Type of Group:

Educational & Training

Group Process Approach:

Educational Approach: Members will be educated on the importance of leisure activities and how these activities can allow for increased socialization and well being. When members are finished sewing, group leaders will facilitate conversation topics regarding leisure participation and how support groups are in fact a form of leisure. 

Training Approach: Training involved within this session includes the direct instruction of how to complete the neck pillows. Group leaders will demonstrate what each station consists of and what to do at each station. Group leaders will also train members on how to use the sewing machines with 1 on 1 supervision with someone who is knowledgeable on how to use the machines. This training will include how to turn on the machines, how/when to use the forward and reverse setting, how to initiate and finish a sewing line,  and how to properly tie off the finished product.

Group Purpose:

The purpose of the session is to educate clients on the importance of leisure participation and promote leisure exploration by the introduction of a new activity. As evident from outcomes form the previous week, members have shared that they rarely pursue leisure activities let alone explore new activities. The purpose is to demonstrate the importance of leisure and to encourage increased engagement in this domain.

Group Membership and Size:

All members of the women’s group will participate in the session. Inclusion criteria for the group includes all women’s group members, women’s group translators, and women over the age of 18. Exclusion criteria includes the SHIM community counselor and women under the age of 18. Typical membership to group meetings ranges between 10-15 women from the community and meetings are always open to those who meet the inclusion criteria. Our session will utilize all members who attend the group on that given day.

Group Goal:

In 1 week, clients will independently take 10 minutes out of their daily routines to participate in a preferred leisure activity.

Equipment & Supplies:

• Fabric
• Rice or Flax Seeds
• Sewing machine
• Sewing Pins
• Thread
• Needle
• Scissors
• Essential oils
• 10-15 chairs
• Pens/pencils
• Ironing Board
• Iron
• Water Sprayer
• Pens
• Printer & Ink

Space & Set-Up:

The beginning of the session will take place in the normal meeting room of the women’s support group. It is an open room, with 10-15 chairs positioned in a circle so members can face each other. During the education portion of our session, group leaders will sit in the circle among the women and teach them about leisure and what the schedule for the day will entail. Following, we will continue to sit in the circle and the group leaders will provide step-by-step instructions for the sewing activity. The session will then move from the typical meeting room into the community room. The community room is a larger room that holds a few couches and a designated sewing area. The sewing area consists of two tall tables used for cutting, measuring, and pinning, a shelving unit that hold various fabrics and tread, and a long table along the wall that holds four sewing machines. Group leaders will have one table set up. The table will have the bag of rice and a selection of essential oils. The bag of rice will contain a cup for members to fill their pillows more easily. Leaders will also check that two of the four available sewing machines are set up and in working order. Once set-up is complete, the group leaders will have members go around the room to different stations. Leaders will provide assistance as needed or to help facilitate conversation amongst group members. Group leaders will also make sure everyone rotates accordingly. There will always be two people seated at the sewing machines, 2-3 people standing at a table where they will be filling rice and choosing the essential oils, and the remainder will sit on the couches and visit with each other.

Implementation Methods:

Cole’s 7 Steps

1. Introduce: Daily morning questions (~15 min)

• Each group session starts with what’s called a “Community Check-In”. It consists of four questions that each person asks the person next to them. Questions asked include:
  • What is your name?
  • How are you feeling today?
  • What is your goal for today?
  • Who can you ask for help? 
• Each person asks each question in English, but are permitted to respond in Nepali or English. This format of questions allows for english to be learned and taught in context and also allows for members to open up and talk about whatever may be on their mind that day. The amount of time this portion of the session takes depends on the amount of members present and the topics they choose to discuss. Typically, it takes anywhere between 15-20 minutes. 
• The environment set-up will include the chairs positioned in a circle, the light will be on and the blind will also be pulled so natural light can enter the room. There will also be various snacks, water, and tea placed on a counter behind the group circle. Members are free to get up and help themselves to snacks at any point during the session. The mood of the group will be open, sympathetic, and will actively listen to each member as they speak. Members are always very respectful of one another and always act appropriately based on what another member is sharing. 

1. Activity: Sewing and creating a therapeutic neck pillow (~25 min)

• The session activity will start with an education component. Group leaders will introduce the concept of leisure including the basic definitions and examples of leisure activities. Conversation will also be prompted when members are asked  to identify leisure activities. Group leaders will also include pictures to be passed around for additional examples of leisure activities. Group leader will then redirect the conversation and introduce the concept of leisure exploration. They will describe how it is important to try new things and that it is never too late to take up a new hobby or learn a new skill. Group leaders will then redirect once again and introduce the sewing activity. They will talk about what it is they are making, what it may be used for (i.e.:sore muscles, releasing tension, to help relax), and the structure of the activity. 
• Group leaders will then transition and lead members into the community room. They will split up members so 2-3 people are at the table, filing their pillows with rice, and two members are situated at two separate sewing machines. At least one of the group leaders and/or the assistant family center site director (who is a competent seamstress) will stand near the sewing machines and provide assistance and offers guidance to those who are learning how to operate the machine. The other group leader will fluctuate between the table where members are filling their pillows and the couches where women can be openly socializing. Each group leader will also help the flow of the activity and make sure when a spot opens up at each station, that a new person is brought in and the person who is done, is redirected. 

 

1. Sharing: Level of Satisfaction (~10 min)
   • Once the sewing task is complete, members will congregate together on the available couches and seating area to discuss how the activity went for them, emotions during the task, and suggestions on how to improve future sewing sessions with the group. 
2. Processing: Talk about feelings during the activity (~5 min)
   • Elicit emotional responses from group members by asking open ended questions such as if they have ever sewed before and if so, who taught them – or prompt them to share their history with the rest of the group. Group members who are new to sewing will be asked if they seek out leisure opportunities in the community and if not what the barriers to leisure exploration. 
3. Generalizing: Reflection on overall group experience  (~5 min)
   • Members will be educated on the importance of leisure exploration and participation specifically in regards to health and wellness. Members will be asked to find other activities of leisure in the community in hope to generalize this session protocol by encouraging the incorporation of other forms of leisure.
4. Application: How this activity can be useful (~5 min)
   • The activity is useful to spread knowledge on the benefits of leisure and the effects on the body and mind. The goal of this session is also to encourage better time management skills to incorporate leisure which was proven to be a neglected area on many of their time sheet charts collected the week prior. 
5. Summary: Major takeaways (~5 min)
   • In summary, group leaders will revisit the sub themes of the activity including time management, stress coping strategies, and the definition of leisure to instill sustained knowledge for members. Members will take a post survey with the following questions to demonstrate their learned knowledge of the session protocol. The questionnaire included: 

1. Do you understand the importance of taking time for leisure activities?  
2. Please list one or more leisure activities you can see yourself participating in.

Outcome Criteria:

Group members were very engaged during the session and seemed to enjoy themselves. Many members showed their engagement by asking questions throughout the session including questions pertaining to when the sewing machines were available during the week and if the available cloth was free to use. The group appeared to be enthusiastic during the entirety of the session. Group leaders handed out a questionnaire at the end of the session to collect data related to the outcomes of the group. The questionnaire included the following questions: 

1. Do you understand the importance of taking time for  leisure activities? (Identify by “yes”, “no”, or “maybe”)
2. Please identify one or more leisure activity you may participate in. (Identify by writing or drawing) 

Nine group members identified that they did understand the importance of taking time for leisure activities and nine group members were able to either write or draw out a leisure activity they could foresee themselves participating in.

In order to measure goal attainment, group leaders at the start of the following week’s session asked members to identify if they have taken 10 minutes out of their daily routine to participate in a leisure activity. By a show of hands, eight group members demonstrated adherence to increasing leisure activity.  Group leaders considered this outcome to be a successful one that met our goal because it the day we implemented the leisure activity had been one member’s last day at SHIM. Because of this change, that member no longer met the inclusion criteria to be involved in our outcomes.

Goal Attainment:

All members who participated in the sewing task signified that they understood the importance of leisure and that they planned to incorporate more leisure activities into their daily routines. Additionally, members were asked one week after the leisure session to identify if they incorporated 10 minutes of leisure activity within their daily routine independently. This measure was collected informally by asking members to raise their hands to signal if their answer was a “Yes” or “No”. Based off this data, group leaders concluded that the session goal was met by all members (n=8) identifying that they had taken 10 minutes out of their daily routine to participate in leisure.

Future Session Modifications/ Considerations:

For future sessions, we would like to delegate additional help to fix unexpected repairs required for sewing machines. Machines would frequently stop working, making the process difficult and inefficient. Some sewing malfunctions included lost thread, jammed machines, and missing pieces. By incorporating an additional skilled seamstresses, the session would run more efficiently allowing for a better experience.

Session Reflection:

This session went really well for us. The women were very participatory during the education portion, asking questions, and tried to relate the content of what we were teaching to their everyday lives. This is something we definitely did not expect, considering the language barrier. Once we moved into the training portion and activity, things went a bit awry. It was one of the members last day at the group, so they were all understandably emotional. When we led the women into the community room, we explained to them the set up and stations we would be using during the activity. We kept our explanation short, for the translators sake. 

Once everyone got up and moved about, the structure of our activity became chaotic and the amount of people at each station exceeded are preferred limits. We expected the session to be slightly dysfunctional, but we had just about every member standing at the small, tall table, filling their bags with rice and passing around the essential oils to smell. We did our best to be as flexible as possible due to the fact that it was our first time leading this activity. Many were chatty and seemed excited for the activity and others seemed more solemn and were hanging closely to their friend who would be leaving them soon. We did not want to take away from the group member’s last day, so we opted to take a step back and allow them to interact as they chose. We also decided it was okay for the session to lose some structure as serious instruction may have taken away from the joyous energy in the group. 

The women ended up spending the afternoon socializing and enjoying their time spent with each other. Many were having discussions about the sewing activity.  This was something we had hoped would happen during the activity. Therefore, in response to the energy of the session we floated and assisted women as necessary. We decided that it was more important to us for them to have a memorable last day with their friend, rather than stressing about the details and structure of the activity. Also to our surprise, the women who already knew how to sew, helped other members make neck pillows who didn’t know how to use the sewing machine. We thought this was a great addition to our session’s socialization piece, and it also gave them something to be excited about- whether it be teaching someone something or learning a new skill. We both ultimately agreed that under the circumstances, allowing the session to go a bit more unstructured was okay. In the end, all women completed the task, learned a new skill, were able to socialize, and also have a memorable last day with one of their close friends. We were more than okay with this outcome.