Views Of Volunteers Research Articles

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.

Understanding Managerial Perspectives of Volunteering at Nonprofit Leisure Events: A Comparison of Typologies Within Open Gardens Australia

ABSTRACTNonprofit volunteer motivations have been widely researched and discussed as the sector is volunteer-dependent. For nonprofit, community-based events, volunteers frequently fulfill multiple roles, yet motivations across roles are infrequently studied. This study explores managers’ views of volunteers across roles for Open Gardens Australia and whether existing typologies for leisure motivations and generic volunteering can be used to classify volunteer motivations. Examining managers’ perceptions is important as managers deliver volunteer-driven events by designing strategies to attract and manage volunteers’ experiences. Results suggest that existing typologies do not adequately capture the motivations of volunteers for these events with additional motivations of significance for some roles being - Obligation, Inertia, Filling a Personal Void or Gap, Elitism and Competitiveness. Of the 14 motivations found, many overlap and more than half may be simultaneously altruistic and egoistic, suggesting complex interactions within and across the different motivations, although motivational differences across volunteer rolesare limited.

The meaning of the sharing of the situations of Persons at the Center of the Issue involved in service learning : From the View of Volunteers who Mediate in the Minorities and Mainstream Society

The meaning of the sharing of the situations of Persons at the Center of the Issue involved in service learning : From the View of Volunteers who Mediate in the Minorities and Mainstream Society

Neuro-disabilities: What impact could volunteers make?

Volunteerism is widespread across almost every sphere of health and social care. In this article, volunteerism with people with neuro-disabilities will be considered, using one UK independent sector specialist medical charity in South West London as a case study for illustration. The anecdotal views of volunteers are considered as a way of highlighting the work they undertake and to signify the contributions they make. In light of the paucity of literature surrounding volunteerism with people with neuro-disabilities, it is hoped that this article will help toward starting a dialogue and debate about the future role of volunteers in helping patients with complex neurological conditions.

Nursing home administrators' views of volunteers' work in an ombudsman program

This research investigated nursing home administrators' (NHAs) perceptions of visits of volunteers in an ombudsman program in relation to effectiveness and satisfaction. Unlike placements of other volunteers made at the behest of organizations, visits of volunteer advocates, which may be mandated and include evaluative assessments of care, usually do not occur at the invitation of NHAs. Yet, outcomes for administrators are not often studied. Despite research showing stress attributed to interaction with state agencies, questionnaire data from 196 NHAs indicated that more contact between volunteers and NHAs was associated with perceptions of greater effectiveness and satisfaction. Those who found visits infrequent and with little impact rated the work of volunteers as less effective and were less satisfied. Qualitative data describe unexpected benefits of visits that were internal and external to the facilities.