Motivations for volunteering time with older adults: A qualitative study

PLoS One. 2020 May 4;15(5):e0232718. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232718. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Improved health, wellbeing and quality of life are associated with older adults living well at home. Enabling older adults to remain at home requires organisations to consider different workforce models to support these initiatives. Volunteers are often used by organisations providing such services. However, given the changing nature of the volunteer industry, volunteer recruitment and retention practices must be better understood. This study sought to understand individuals' motivations to volunteer in aged care home support. Eighteen volunteers were recruited from not-for-profit aged support organisations in Perth, Western Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and five themes were thematically interpreted: What's Important to Me?, Learning and Growth, Somewhere to Belong, Meet Me in the Middle, and Not Just a Number. Fulfilling volunteers' desires for interest, social connection, self-growth, recognition, and support appeared conducive to positive volunteering experiences. These findings may suggest avenues to capture and retain volunteers in aged care home support.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Motivation*
  • Qualitative Research*
  • Time Factors
  • Volunteers*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This research project was funded by the Home and Community Care (HACC) Growth funding in 2016/17 (HACC Non-Recurrent Funding), specifically awarded to CH and AS. https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/HACC-Home-and-Community-Care-Program The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.