Examining leadership of Parkinson’s disease support groups in rural and regional New South Wales: A qualitative study

*Pseudonym*	Gender	Age	Type of leadership	Education	Occupation	Time in role (Yrs.)
Deborah	Female	51	Health professional	Bachelor’s degree	Physiotherapist Employed	22
Keith	Male	71	Caregiver	Bachelor’s degree	Retired Volunteer	6
Shared leadership model
Elaine	Female	71	Person with PD (Principal)	Graduate certificate	Retired Volunteer	6
Dot	Female	78	Person with PD (Supporting role)	Senior secondary school	Retired Volunteer	6
Beverley	Female	75	Caregiver (Supporting role)	Junior secondary school	Retired Volunteer	6

Interview guide

Interview Guide

What were your connections with the support group when you first attended the group?
Can you describe your role as the group leader?
How has the group evolved since you became leader?
What do you think is required of a person to be a successful leader?
Have you had any specific training/qualifications that enable you to undertake your role as leader?
Do you think specific training in support group leadership is required or would be helpful in this role?
Do you have supervision or mentoring to support you in your role as the group leader?
Do you think the group is running smoothly?
Do you think the people attending the support group are satisfied with how the group is functioning?
Do you find the support group leader position rewarding?
What were the challenges you experienced when you first began leading this support group?
- ○ And now, are these the same or are there different challenges?
What advice would you give to a person who is about to become a support group leader for the first time?

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ajon-2026-0013 | Journal eISSN: 2208-6781 | Journal ISSN: 1032-335X

Language: English

Page range: 9 - 25

Published on: Sep 21, 2026

Published by: Australasian Neuroscience Nurses Association

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

Related subjects:

© 2026 V Carroll, MD Bramble, R Rossiter, published by Australasian Neuroscience Nurses Association
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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