Support group webcasting: a feasibility assessment.

Stress from chronic illness can be ameliorated by participation in support groups (SGs). Attending “gold standard” in-person, moderated SGs can be challenging. Taking care to address confidentiality concerns, we developed a web-based method for remote participants to “attend” in-person SGs. Authorized participants gain a realtime, audiovisual connection to the SG; on-site attendees discuss textual comments sent by remote participants to, and selected for discussion by, the group moderator. Feasibility studies with three SGs are encouraging.