Is befriending by trained volunteers of value to people suffering from long‐term mental illness?

Abstract

People who suffer from long term mental illness may be vulnerable to loneliness and isolation when living in community settings. Befriending by volunteers may be an effective way of combating such problems and helping clients to develop social networks. The findings of a small scale project to evaluate the views of people suffering from long term mental illness of an organized befriending scheme are reported. Nine subjects who suffer from severe mental illness were interviewed, all subjects felt befriending was helpful to them, and 67% of subjects thought it had improved their confidence when in social situations. Subjects who lived alone indicated a preference to see volunteers at home, whilst those who lived with carers preferred support in going out socially. The value of befriending schemes as part of community care services for this needy client group are discussed.

Compeer Friends: a Qualitative Study of a Volunteer Friendship Programme for People with Serious Mental Illness

“…These researchers described programme recipients' experiences of the programme, but not the experience of volunteers. A similar study of volunteer befriending for SMI (Bradshaw & Haddock, 1998) found that participants reported the programme helped them, but the study described benefits in very general terms, did not discuss drawbacks, and did not explore either the perspectives of the befrienders or the mechanisms that promoted the benefits.…”

Supporting Family Volunteers to Increase Retention and Recruitment

“…Befriending in the form of providing companionship, social activities, and human contact was a primary role as well as promoting positive emotional well-being. The values of befriending schemes such as the reported Community Care Program are well recognised and potentially an effective way of combating loneliness and isolation and helping individuals to develop social networks [5].…”

“…Studies have shown that befriending others is a significant role of the neighbourhood volunteer [4,5] although other roles can include those of engaging with professionals in direct care partnerships [6], meeting nonmedical needs [7], manual work [8], and emotional support [9]. Befriending alone can be an effective way of relieving loneliness and isolation for those living in community settings, particularly if living alone, by helping them to communicate and develop social networks.…”

Post-trauma: Is evidence-based practice a fantasy?

“…However, there is no clear evidence of the benefits of these interventions (Bradshaw & Haddock, 1998;Harris, Brown, & Robinson, 1999;Heslop, 2005;Mohr, 2004;Taggart, Short, & Barclay, 2000).…”