Overview
As noted above, participants take part in one of two possible intervention arms: the structured or self-guided intervention group. The self-guided education-only intervention was chosen as a comparison group to account for the impact of two general factors: 1) the provision of similar health information, and 2) the social support and stimulation provided by attending a group-based intervention. Each intervention group is matched in terms of the number and length of group sessions and exposure to other group participants and the interventionists. Both interventions are administered in a group format and consist of a total of 15 two-hour classes. The first 10 classes occur weekly, then the classes transition to bimonthly for one month and then monthly for the last three months. This format was chosen to facilitate mastery and gradually evolving autonomy and self-direction. The target size of each class is about 15 people to balance optimal group discussions with individualized attention. All intervention sessions will be digitally recorded. Recordings will be emailed to participants if they miss a session and make-up sessions are provided where needed.