Level of participation in public health volunteering and its determinants among ministry of health primary health care workers in Jeddah 2019

Asim A Kably; Riyadh A Almalki; Abdullah M AlQarni; Wedad M Bardisi

doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_317_21

Level of participation in public health volunteering and its determinants among ministry of health primary health care workers in Jeddah 2019

J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Oct;10(10):3584-3589. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_317_21. Epub 2021 Nov 5.

Authors

Asim A Kably¹, Riyadh A Almalki², Abdullah M AlQarni², Wedad M Bardisi³

Affiliations

¹ MBBCH, Family Medicine Department at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah (KFAFH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
² MBBCH, Family Medicine Department at Ministry of Health, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Associate Professor at Joint Program of Family Medicine at Ministry of Health, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Context: Volunteering is an important practice for health care systems globally and contributes to the development of health care services as well.

Aims: To estimate the level of participation in public health volunteering and its determinants among healthcare workers in ministry of health primary care sector, Jeddah.

Settings and design: A randomized quantitative cross-sectional self-administered survey involving all primary healthcare workers in 15 centers.

Methods and material: The survey included socio-demographics and 33 determinants of volunteering (values, career development, enhancement, social, and protection) ranked by importance using a seven-point scale. The research committee of the joint program for family medicine in Jeddah validated the survey. Primarily we evaluated the level of participation in public health volunteering. Secondary endpoints were perception of the importance of volunteering determinants among participants, correlation between volunteering and independent socio-demographic variables, and any attribute of volunteering determinants.

Statistical analysis used: Descriptive analyses using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 24.

Results: 231 consenting participants filled the survey. Most of the participants were Saudi citizens, predominantly female, bachelor or higher degree holders, and married. Out of 227 respondents, 98 (43%) declared volunteering in the previous year. Only the age was positively correlated to volunteering significantly. Respondents significantly perceived the 33 attributes of the questionnaire as "extremely, very, or somewhat important." Determinants like values, enhancement, and social were significant predictors of volunteering but not career development or protection.

Conclusions: Volunteering complements healthcare resources in coping with emergent situations like COVID-19 pandemic. More efforts are required to bring awareness toward volunteering opportunities in Saudi healthcare sector.

Keywords: Determinants; Saudi Arabia; primary healthcare workers; public health volunteering.