Program Goals and Outline
The main aim of SHOP is to help women build or maintain a healthy social identity. This is accomplished by helping them to augment their personal social networks and to increase their participation in rewarding social roles. SHOP goals are listed below.

Goals of SHOP

To help participants:

  1. Define social health and under- stand what contributes to it.
  2. Gain knowledge about issues related to demoralization and depression.
  3. Evaluate the health of their social networks using a mapping technique.
  4. Establish goals for augmenting their social networks.
  5. Develop or refurbish the skills needed to reach their social goals.
  6. Identify a community role that is of interest to them.

The twenty session version of SHOP included the following topics:

  • Introduction to SHOP.
  • Social Roles, Participation and Selfworth.
  • Introduction to the Social Network.
  • "Self Talk": What it is and How to Monitor it.
  • Differing Views on the Cause(s) of Depression.
  • Enhancing "Self Talk". Thought Stopping Techniques.
  • Medications: Precautions and Safety Issues.
  • Dealing with Sleep Problems.
  • Introduction to Communication.
  • Increasing Your Success in Social Communication.
  • Communicating in Difficult Situations.
  • Social Networks.
  • Social Networks and Health.
  • Problem Solving.
  • Goal Setting.
  • "Taking Stock" - Strengths Inventory.
  • Rediscovering Interests and Abilities.
  • Volunteer, educational and recreational
  • Evaluation and Wrap-up.

What makes SHOP effective with Older Women?
Part of the developmental work of SHOP has been to evaluate and revise the program based on observations and feedback from participants. I had the opportunity, while conducting SHOP over a seven month period, to consider which program features are particularly useful for older women. These are highlighted below.

The knowledge component of SHOP provides a framework for women to analyze their experience. They clarify which social roles they occupy and analyze how their roles have shaped their day-to-day social "space" or environment.


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