The Importance and Performance of Hospice Volunteer's Activities Perceived by Hospice Volunteers

Abstract

Purpose: This study was performed to identify the importance and performance of hospice volunteer’s activities perceived by hospice volunteers. Methods: The subjects were 259 hospice volunteers from six hospitals in Daegu and Gyeongsangbukdo areas. A list of hospice volunteer’s activities was developed by authors, based on literature, and interviews with the hospice volunteers were used to measure the perception on the importance and performance of their activities. Data were analyzed by using Descriptive statistics, t-test, One-way ANOVA with Scheffe test, and Pearson’s product-moment correlation in SPSS Win 12.0. Results: The average of the importance of hospice volunteer’s activities was 3.09 and the performance was 2.31, which was lower than the importance. There was a significant correlation between the importance and the performance (r=.487, P=.000). There were significant differences in total score of the importance, depending on religion, education, and period of hospice volunteer activity of subjects. There were significant differences in total score of the performance, depending on age, religion, and period of hospice volunteer activity of subjects. Conclusion: The importance of hospice volunteer's activities, perceived by hospice volunteers, was relatively high, however their performance didn’t reach the level of the importance. Some characteristics of the volunteers influenced the perception of the importance and performance of the hospice volunteer’s activities. The findings of this study are expected to provide useful information for the development of educational and management programs the hospice volunteers. (Korean J Hosp Palliat Care 2009;12:122-131)Key Words: Hospice, Volunteer, Activity서론