Volunteer Experience Research Articles

Immigrants’ Experiences of Volunteering; A Meta-Ethnography

Among policy makers and governments in the Global North, the voluntary sector is considered a central arena for immigrant integration. The aim of this interpretive synthesis was to systematically review research to understand immigrants’ volunteering experiences and explore how volunteering may influence immigrants’ health. A systematic literature review was performed using six databases. Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria. Meta-ethnography was applied for the interpretive synthesis. Immigrants’ perceived volunteering contributed to improving self-conception, engaging in the community, developing skills and knowledge, and building social networks. Under certain conditions, volunteering could be an arena for developing meaningfulness and belongingness and capacity building in the new community for immigrants. Our study indicates that volunteering may have a health-promoting impact that may contribute to immigrants’ sense of belonging and positive well-being. However, this effect seems complex, and volunteering activities and contexts must be further explored.

Race, But Not Gender, Is Associated With Admissions Into Orthopaedic Residency Programs.

Orthopaedic surgery is one of the most competitive but least diverse surgical specialties, with ever-increasing academic achievements (such as test scores) shown by applicants. Prior research shows that white applicants had higher United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores as well as higher odds of Alpha Omega Alpha status compared with Black, Hispanic, and other applicant groups. Yet, it still remains unknown whether differences in application metrics by race/ethnicity sufficiently explain the underrepresentation of certain racial or ethnic minority groups in orthopaedic residency programs. In this study, we sought to determine (1) the relative weight of academic variables for admission into orthopaedic residency, and (2) whether race and gender are independently associated with admission into an orthopedic residency. The Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) of first-time MD applicants (n = 8966) for orthopaedic surgery residency positions in the United States and of admitted orthopaedic residents (n = 6218) from 2005 to 2014 were reviewed. This dataset is the first and most comprehensive of its kind to date in orthopaedic surgery. Academic metrics, such as USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores, number of publications, Alpha Omega Alpha status, volunteer experiences, work experience, as well as race and gender, were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression models. The first model analyzed the association of academic metrics with admission into orthopaedic residency. In the second model, we added race and gender and controlled for metrics of academic performance. To determine how well the models simulated the actual admissions data, we computed the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) including the area under curve (AUC), which measures the model's ability to simulate which applicants were admitted or not admitted, with an AUC = 1.0 representing a perfect simulation. The odds ratio and confidence interval of each variable were computed. When only academic variables were analyzed in the first model, Alpha Omega Alpha status (odds ratio 2.12 [95% CI 1.80 to 2.50]; p < 0.001), the USMLE Step 1 score (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.03 to 1.04]; p < 0.001), the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge score (OR 1.01 [95% CI 1.01 to 1.02]; p < 0.001), publication count (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.03 to 1.05]; p < 0.001), and volunteer experience (OR 1.03 [95% CI 1.01 to 1.04]; p < 0.001) were associated with admissions into orthopaedics while work and research experience were not. This model yielded a good prediction of the results with an AUC of 0.755. The second model, in which the variables of race and gender were added to the academic variables, also had a good prediction of the results with an AUC of 0.759. This model indicates that applicant race, but not gender, is associated with admissions into orthopaedic residency. Applicants from Asian (OR 0.78 [95% CI 0.67 to 0.92]), Black (OR 0.63 [95% CI 0.51 to 0.77], Hispanic (OR 0.48 [95% CI 0.36 to 0.65]), or other race groups (OR 0.65 [95% CI 0.55 to 0.77]) had lower odds of admission into residency compared with white applicants. Minority applicants, but not women, have lower odds of admission into orthopaedic surgery residency, even when accounting for academic performance metrics. Changes in the residency selection processes are needed to eliminate the lower admission probability of qualified minority applicants in orthopaedic residency and to improve the diversity and inclusion of orthopaedic surgery. Changes including increasing the diversity of the selection committee, bias training, blinding applications before review, removal of metrics with history of racial disparities from an interviewer's candidate profile before an interview, and use of holistic application review (where an applicants' experiences, attributes, and academic metrics are all considered) can improve the diversity landscape in training. In addition, cultivating an environment of inclusion will be necessary to address these long-standing trends in orthopaedic surgery. Race, but not gender, is associated with the odds of acceptance into orthopaedic surgery residency despite equivalent academic metrics. Changes in residency selection processes are suggested to eliminate the lower admission probability of qualified minority applicants into orthopaedic residency and to improve the diversity and inclusion of orthopaedic surgery.

An Initial Survey of Volunteer Perceptions of Horses in Equine-Assisted Services: Volunteer Experiences, Training, and Educational Needs

Equine-Assisted Services (EAS) gained a foothold in the healthcare industry as a unique modality addressing the physical, cognitive, and psychological health issues for people across the lifespan. These services require a team approach, with volunteer support playing a prominent role in service delivery. Volunteers are a precious resource for EAS programs and step into a variety of support roles, including preparation and handling. However, little is known about the horse-volunteer relationship or factors that influence their working relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this web-based survey was to characterize the volunteer experience and explore factors that may impact volunteers’ ability to accurately identify equine behavior. A total of 240 volunteers from 25 Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship, International (PATH, Intl.) Premier Accredited Centers participated in this survey. The results of the correlational analyses and a general linear model suggested certain volunteer characteristics can be linked to accurate identification of horse behaviors. Horse leaders (P < .001) and volunteers who help with adaptive riding (P = .048) or therapeutic driving (P = .031) sessions more accurately recognized behaviors than those who held other roles. Volunteers who had any amount of horse experience prior to volunteering correctly identified more behaviors than those who came with none. A qualitative content analysis showed that volunteers felt most unprepared when a horse exhibited a behavior they were not trained to handle, and volunteers indicated their preparation to assist in EAS could be improved with more general training and education related to equine behavior.

A qualitative exploration of pharmacy students' opinions and experiences of volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionThis study explored the experiences of pharmacy students volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic and the perceived impact of volunteering on experiential learning and development of core pharmacy skills. MethodsOnline semi-structured interviews were conducted with current master of pharmacy, entry-to-practice, professional degree students in the United Kingdom (UK). Participants were recruited through email invitations sent to six schools of pharmacy in the UK, pharmacy student organisations in the UK, and social media. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Implications from the findings were mapped against the Higher Education Learning Framework. ResultsFifteen students from a range of UK universities were interviewed. The participants described their motivations for volunteering, experiences of working during COVID-19, and the impact of COVID-19 on their learning experiences. A prominent motivating factor for joining the workforce was a sense of moral responsibility to contribute towards the global effort. The opportunity to learn above and beyond routine coursework placements, personal and professional development, social wellbeing at the time of crisis, and national lockdowns were key outcomes that the participants linked to their experiences of volunteering. ConclusionsParticipants of this study perceived a high level of satisfaction, pride, and humanity in their contribution to the global effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Harnessing students' motivation, skill sets, and opportunities during the pandemic added an important workforce in the fight against COVID-19 while increasing the student learning experience.

Study on the Factors Influencing Residents' Participation in Community Volunteer Service for anti-COVID-19 in Mega cities

The epidemic poses a major challenge to public security governance in urban communities. Residents' participation in volunteer services can effectively alleviate the shortage of manpower in communities in mega cities. Based on the questionnaire data of 431 permanent residents in Beijing, a binary logistic regression model was established to explore the influencing factors of residents' participation in community volunteer services for anti-COVID-19 in mega cities. The results show that the overall participation rate of residents is relatively high, but there is still room for improvement. There are differences in the participation of residents in terms of gender, education level, pre-training, and past community volunteer experience. The participation of residents with female, higher education level, pre-training, and previous community volunteer experience is higher. Communities can enhance the participation of residents in community epidemic prevention volunteer service by strengthening the publicity of the concept of volunteer service, continuously holding various volunteer service activities, establishing a volunteer management database, and paying attention to the training of volunteer service skills before work.

Predictors of public support for police accreditation

PurposeThis study aims to identify the predictors of public support for police accreditation under four different scenarios that vary based upon whether or not accreditation requires a property tax increase and whether or not local police support accreditation.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws upon survey data from 998 US adults. Four binary logistic models are employed to assess support for accreditation under four different scenarios.FindingsIndividual-level factors, including age, education, race, region, generalized trust, political ideology, and volunteer experience, are important predictors of support for police accreditation depending on the scenario presented. Community-level factors including perceptions of police performance and perceptions of property taxes are also important predictors of support for police accreditation depending on the scenario presented. Support for police accreditation is highest when police accreditation does not require a property tax increase and when local police support accreditation. Sixty-six percent of respondents support police accreditation under this scenario.Originality/valueThis article represents the first published study on the predictors of support for police accreditation. The findings from this study have important implications for implementing police reform given recent calls by activists to both reform the police and to defund them.

Compassionate community connectors: a distinct form of end-of-life volunteering

Public health approaches to palliative care have long promoted the contribution of formal and informal volunteering to providing effective end-of-life care in neighbourhoods and communities. A central strategy for this is a ‘compassionate communities’ approach that focuses on building care networks and developing community members’ capacities in end-of-life care. There is anecdotal evidence of differences in the motivations and life experiences of traditional palliative care volunteers and volunteers in compassionate community programs. There is however very little research into volunteers seeking a compassionate communities orientated role. This study describes the motivations, experiences and characteristics of volunteers participating in a program called compassionate connectors in Western Australia. Twenty volunteers with a variety of caregiving experiences participated in the pilot study through submitting an expression of interest for recruitment. Analysis indicated that the compassionate community connector role attracted experienced community volunteers who were already familiar with community services and end-of-life supports in their community, demonstrating a pre-existing understanding of the practical and emotional supports families may need for end-of-life care. They articulated some key differences with the hospice/palliative care volunteers and how they wish to engage in fresh ways with their community and move beyond traditional volunteering to exercise more autonomy in providing care. This article argues that clarifying these characteristics will benefit new compassionate community initiatives and provide important information for hospice and palliative care services that may be considering undertaking compassionate community projects. Conceptual clarity about these differing roles will be helpful for all collaborations and partnerships that involve volunteer recruitment and management.

"Finding My Piece in That Puzzle": A Qualitative Study Exploring How Medical Students at Four U.S. Schools Envision Their Future Professional Identity in Relation to Health Systems.

Health systems science (HSS) curricula equip future physicians to improve patient, population, and health systems outcomes (i.e., to become "systems citizens"), but the degree to which medical students internalize this conception of the physician role remains unclear. This study aimed to explore how students envision their future professional identity in relation to the system and identify experiences relevant to this aspect of identity formation. Between December 2018 and September 2019, authors interviewed 48 students at 4 U.S. medical schools with HSS curricula. Semistructured interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, and analyzed iteratively using inductive thematic analysis. Interview questions explored how students understood the health system, systems-related activities they envisioned as future physicians, and experiences and considerations shaping their perspectives. Most students anticipated enacting one or more systems-related roles as a future physician, categorized as "bottom-up" efforts enacted at a patient or community level (humanist, connector, steward) or "top-down" efforts enacted at a system or policy level (system improver, system scholar, policy advocate). Corresponding activities included attending to social determinants of health or serving medically underserved populations, connecting patients with team members to address systems-related barriers, stewarding health care resources, conducting quality improvement projects, researching/teaching systems topics, and advocating for policy change. Students attributed systems-related aspirations to experiences beyond HSS curricula (e.g., low-income background; work or volunteer experience; undergraduate studies; exposure to systems challenges affecting patients; supportive classmates, faculty, and institutional culture). Students also described future-oriented considerations promoting or undermining identification with systems-related roles (responsibility, affinity, ability, efficacy, priority, reality, consequences). This study illuminates systems-related roles medical students at 4 schools with HSS curricula envisioned as part of their future physician identity and highlights past/present experiences and future-oriented considerations shaping identification with such roles. These findings inform practical strategies to support professional identity formation inclusive of systems engagement.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL FACTORS IN MANAGEMENT OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERING

The managerial aspects of studying factors of student volunteering are considered in this article. The role of analyzing factors of volunteering (individual, motivational, contextual etc.) allows for enhancing quality of volunteers’ work, and attracting new members in volunteer organizations. The specific of organization of volunteering at the university is engagement of this activity in the processes of education and upbringing. In this research, two methods were used: student survey and semi-formalized interviews with the representatives of volunteer center of Udmurt State University. For the analysis of factors of volunteering, three groups of factors were chosen: factors of social status (gender, year of study, level of study); socio-psychological characteristics (altruism, collectivism), and social factors (having volunteers among relatives and friends, social activity, previous experience of volunteering). The analysis has demonstrated that students’ social characteristics do not significantly correlate with volunteering. Among socio-psychological factors, the altruism was the most significant. As the social factor, the social activity in different spheres of student life, and previous experience of volunteering were important correlates of volunteering. Stimulation of volunteering must be connected with other forms of student activity: education, research, and development, and with preparation for the future job.

Implementation of a Structured Surgery Mentorship Program and Success in the Surgical Residency Match

IntroductionGeneral Surgery residency programs remain competitive, with over a quarter of US MD seniors failing to match into a categorical program each year. While previous literature has shown the role of mentorship in attracting medical students to surgery, there is a dearth of information demonstrating the role of mentorship in successfully matching those students to surgery programs. MethodsWe implemented a structured mentorship program for medical students interested in applying to general surgery or integrated plastics, vascular, or cardiothoracic residencies over the course of one year, consisting of seven standardized meetings and events spanning the students’ MS3 and MS4 years. Following Match Day, we sent students a five-point Likert scale survey to assess the perceived utility of each event and solicited self-reported application information. ResultsOf the 22 students at a single institution who attended the structured mentorship program and applied to general surgery residency, 100% matched into a categorical program, significantly higher than the 73% national match rate of US MD seniors into general surgery (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the two cohorts in terms of United States Medical Licensing Examination board scores, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society status, or median number of publications, research experiences, work experiences, or volunteer experiences. Nineteen of the 22 students responded to the survey, yielding an 86% response rate. Ninety percent of the students attended at least six out of the seven events. Six out of the seven events had median helpfulness scores (out of five) that were significantly higher than a “neutral” baseline (P < 0.05). ConclusionsA structured mentorship program may play a useful role in successfully matching general surgery applicants to residencies and would be a simple and low-cost program to implement at other medical schools.

How can we Make you Stay? Identifying Motivating Factors to Volunteer Retention in Non-Profit Organizations

Many non-profit organizations depend on volunteers to provide services to their clients thus helping to alleviate some of the costs and financial burdens non-profits face. A volunteer’s motivation and satisfaction drivers are varied thus making the task of attracting and retaining volunteers a difficult one. Since volunteers are a vital part of any non-profit and volunteer supported organization, retention initiatives are crucial to the organization’s success. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of organizational support, group integration, empowerment and participation efficacy on volunteer satisfaction and retention. Over 100 volunteers, from a Central Florida organization, were surveyed to: 1) measure their motivating factors and satisfaction with various aspects of their volunteer experience and 2) measure their intentions to remain as a volunteer. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression suggest that participation efficacy and organizational support are significant predictors to intent to remain with the organization.

COVID-19 Pandemic Psychological Impact and Volunteering Experience Perceptions of Medical Students after 2 Years.

Undergraduate healthcare students were mobilized to support healthcare systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have scarce information regarding their experience and its impact on their wellbeing. An anonymous online survey was conducted among undergraduate students and recently graduated physicians of a medical university in Spain, regarding their symptoms and volunteering experience during the initial months of the Spanish COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents showed a high prevalence of perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, measured by the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. 14.5% reported healthcare-related volunteering tasks. Volunteering was a satisfactory experience for most of the respondents and the majority felt ready to do volunteering tasks (66.6%). Yet, 16.6% acknowledged not getting appropriate specific-task education before starting, 20.8% reported not having appropriate supervision, and 33.3% feel they did not have proper protective equipment. More than half of volunteers feared getting infected, more than 70% feared infecting their relatives or friends, and 54.2% reported stigmatization. Volunteers showed significantly higher stress, anxiety, and depression scores than the rest of the respondents, and 32% reported a highly traumatic event during volunteering, with high scores on the IES-R in the 16% of volunteers. Our results should help guide future potential volunteering processes in emergencies, enhance academic programs at medical schools and provide valuable data for psychological support services.

An Exploration of Volunteering as a Path to Healthy Youth Development

Volunteering is commonly observed from the standpoint of the service recipient, and the effect it has on a volunteer’s growth and development is often overlooked. Though quantitative studies, mixed method research, and surveys have explored the impact of volunteerism, very few look into its connection with healthy youth development. Furthermore, it has not received the academic attention it deserves in Sri Lanka, given that the country is globally ranked 1st in volunteer engagement. This qualitative study sought a psychosocial approach to explore and gain insight into the effects of volunteerism on the personal and social development of volunteers. Data collection was done through semi-structured interviews conducted with 6 (young adult) participants (4 females, 2 males), with at least 2 years of experience volunteering at an educational or psychosocial setting. The data were analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis, which took a hermeneutical stance to explore the lived experiences of volunteers. The analysis revealed 2 superordinate themes: The first, a “journey of growth,” emphasized the development through exposure to different realities and the discovering of career-related interests. The second, “acceptance, support, and validation,” illustrated the importance of sociocultural influences on volunteerism. The findings of the study provided insight into multiple implications including the role of supervisors and volunteer organizations in facilitating a healthy volunteering experience, the significance of sociocultural beliefs and philosophical drives in volunteerism, and the possibility of using volunteering as a standardized youth development program.

A community-based participatory research approach to understanding social eating for food well-being

“Social eating initiatives” are framed as a specific type of community-based food service that provides opportunities for people to eat together in local spaces using surplus food. These initiatives provide a meal that is fresh, affordable and more environmentally friendly than fast or convenience foods. In this research, we build upon the food well-being model to explore how food consumption is experienced in these community settings and the role of social eating projects in shaping the different dimensions of people's foodscapes. We adopted a community-based participatory approach and engaged in a series of dialogues with staff volunteers and coordinators at four “social eating initiatives”. We also conducted 45 interviews with service users and volunteers at three sites in the Midlands region. The role of community-based food initiatives responding to hunger by utilising surplus food to feed local populations is often conceptualised critically. However, closer attention to the experiences of staff, volunteers and customers at these spaces, reveals them as sites where knowledge and experience of food is being developed with this contributing to a sense of well-being beyond nutrition. Shared food practices and eating together contribute to social capital and are important dimensions of food well-being that are significantly restricted by food insecurity. The “food well-being” model envisages a shift in focus from health, defined as the absence of illness, towards well-being as a positive relationship with food at the individual and societal level. In the concluding remarks of this article, it is suggested that this holistic conception is required to understand the role and function of social eating initiatives.

A community-based participatory research approach to understanding social eating for food well-being

‘Social eating initiatives’ are framed as a specific type of community-based food service that provides opportunities for people to eat together in local spaces using surplus food. These initiatives provide a meal that is fresh, affordable and more environmentally friendly than fast or convenience foods. In this research, we build upon the food well-being model to explore how food consumption is experienced in these community settings and the role of social eating projects in shaping the different dimensions of people’s foodscapes. We adopted a community-based participatory approach and engaged in a series of dialogues with staff volunteers and coordinators at four ‘social eating initiatives’. We also conducted 45 interviews with service users and volunteers at three sites in the Midlands region. The role of community-based food initiatives responding to hunger by utilising surplus food to feed local populations is often conceptualised critically. However, closer attention to the experiences of staff, volunteers and customers at these spaces, reveals them as sites where knowledge and experience of food is being developed with this contributing to a sense of well-being beyond nutrition. Shared food practices and eating together contribute to social capital and are important dimensions of food well-being that are significantly restricted by food insecurity. The ‘food well-being’ model envisages a shift in focus from health, defined as the absence of illness, towards well-being as a positive relationship with food at the individual and societal level. In the concluding remarks of this article, it is suggested that this holistic conception is required to understand the role and function of social eating initiatives.

Compulsory volunteers' nostalgia and its relationships with positive memories, age, past experiences, and volunteer intention.

While nostalgia has been explored in various contexts, no research has so far investigated how individuals’ nostalgia can be generated by volunteer experiences in compulsory settings and how nostalgic feelings extend their future behavior. To fill this research gap, this study explored how nostalgia regarding compulsory volunteering is related to positive memories, age, and past experiences and how such nostalgia translates to volunteer intention. A total of 605 responses were collected from university students who had completed compulsory volunteering at sporting events and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that positive memories contributed to all five factors of volunteer nostalgia, while past experiences only predicted volunteer environment, volunteer socialization, and volunteer personal identity. Age was not a significant antecedent to any of the volunteer nostalgia factors. Nostalgia regarding volunteer experience and volunteer personal identity mediated the relationship between positive memories and volunteer intention. This study confirmed previous claims concerning the relationships among nostalgia, positive memories, age, and past experiences in the context of compulsory volunteering. Specifically, individuals can develop nostalgia for coerced experiences if they have fond memories of them. Also, past experiences are more essential to nostalgia than age but not as much as positive memories, and nostalgia can turn compulsory volunteers into continued volunteers.

Volunteers' Embodied Experiences at a Sport Festival

In this article we argue that extant research in event studies on volunteering has predominantly been conducted through disembodied managerial lenses using formulaic conceptual frames. This has resulted in the neglect of more phenomenological approaches that explore volunteers' lived experiences. Using the example of the 2018 Tall Ships festival in the provincial North East English city of Sunderland, we draw on embodiment theory to fill this gap in event management research. Utilizing in-depth, semistructured interviews with 31 local volunteers, our main findings are twofold. First, they highlight the complexities and fluidity of local volunteers' lived experiences of the festival that reflect a multitude of interrelated elements that are corporeal, emotional, and multisensory. Second, these embodied experiences, combined with knowledge of self and place, create fresh, vivid, and subjective meanings that collapse the past, present, and future of postindustrial places riddled by economic decline. Our focus on the volunteer experience in the medium term after the event has occurred represents a distinctive timeline as it provides insights into how volunteers interpret, remember, and reconfigure their experience beyond initial euphoria and before long-term nostalgia.

Healthcare professionals’ experiences with education in short term medical missions: an inductive thematic analysis

BackgroundShort-term medical mission (STMM) providers supplement healthcare delivery and education in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Despite numerous providers working in this space, the views of volunteers who contribute their time and skills to these programs are rarely sought.MethodA qualitative study of 24 volunteers for Pangea Global Health Education (Pangea) was undertaken using semi-structured interviews to better understand their perspectives on program design and delivery, personal and professional outcomes of their volunteer experiences and the resulting implications for STMM program design. An inductive thematic analysis of their responses was completed. Social constructionist theory was utilised to contextualise themes and implications for program design.ResultsParticipants highlighted the importance of co-creation with local learners and staff, the necessity to understand clinical context and the importance of relating to culture in the advancement of patient care. They reported personal growth, including a better understanding of others, and identifying commonalities between people. Professionally, participants reported learning from their colleagues, including new medical content, as well as refining their teaching practices. They also reported learning from those they taught and respecting the resourcefulness of medical and nursing staff working in LMIC.ConclusionSTMM providers may benefit from co-creation with their learners in the development of health professional education programs. A deep understanding of local context and culture provides for a richer learning environment and enables sustainable long-term program delivery. Utilising a social constructionist framework enables a better understanding of cultural barriers, which inhibit group learning, including the tendency to maintain hierarchical divides; addressing these will allow for optimised patient care.

Psychosocial factors influencing volunteering motivation: A pilot study in a Taiwanese healthcare volunteer program

ABSTRACT Volunteers of various ages and backgrounds are an essential contribution to society in countries worldwide. In Taiwan, the healthcare sector greatly benefits from volunteers which are mostly elderly individuals. In this study, we examine the various psychosocial factors that prompt volunteers within Taiwan’s healthcare sector to set aside their time and resources for this important activity. A total of 144 valid surveys containing 19 questions relevant to the healthcare volunteering experience were collected from participants. The Cronbach’s Alpha for this pilot study was 0.8988. Participants expressed among important motivating factors the following: serving the community, improved well-being and health, recognition among friends and family, connections, avoiding loneliness, and a feeling of self-worth. Our study revealed some important motivating factors prompting individuals in society to dedicate their time and resources to volunteer in Taiwan’s healthcare sector, contributing to the reduction of healthcare costs and benefiting society in many ways.

One Health clinic promotes veterinarian-client trust among underserved pet owners and provides learning opportunities for veterinary students.

To determine the impact of a free One Health clinic with human and veterinary services on the veterinary-client relationship for underserved pet owners. A secondary aim was to understand the experience of veterinary students and volunteers who participated in the clinic. 78 pet owners, 55 students and 32 volunteers who attended the Delaware Humane Association One Health Clinic between December 2018 and November 2019. Pet owners completed an anonymous questionnaire prior to and following their veterinary appointment regarding their trust in the veterinary profession, feelings of enablement and veterinarian-client concordance. Students and volunteers completed a questionnaire within 72 hours of clinic participation about their perceptions of the educational value of the clinic. Following the One Health clinic, client trust in the veterinary profession increased significantly (t = -5.50, P < 0.001). Clients also reported high levels of enablement and veterinarian-client concordance. Students and volunteers agreed the clinic was a valuable educational experience (97.7%) and reported increased compassion, enhanced leadership, communication and teamwork skills, and an improved ability to identify social issues and think critically. The results support the utilization of One Health clinics to improve access to veterinary care for underserved pet owners. Clients reported high levels of trust, enablement and concordance following the clinic which could have long-lasting effects on their willingness to seek veterinary care and comply with veterinarians' recommendations. The positive experiences of students and volunteers also highlights the potential of low-cost veterinary clinics as unique educational experiences.