Motivations, Satisfaction, and Fears of Death and Dying in Residential Hospice Volunteers

Nissim, Rinat; Emmerson, Debbie; O’Neill, Brian; Marchington, Katie; Draper, Haley; Rodin, Gary

doi:10.1177/1049909114559830

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Communication concerning treatment options can prevent suicide (Lindner et al, 2013). HPs’ breaking the silence and offering recommendable PC interventions (Hudson et al, 2006; Dean and Street, 2014; Nissim et al, 2016) can relieve patients’ suffering. Besides, patients want HPs to initiate a conversation on end-of-life issues (Smucker et al, 1993; Fallowfield et al, 2002; Galushko et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication about the desire to die: Development and evaluation of a first needs-oriented training concept — A pilot study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Patients’ desire to die (DD) is rarely discussed in palliative care (PC) due to health professionals’ (HPs) feeling of uncertainty. The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a training to increase HPs’ self-confidence in responding professionally to patient's DD and to assess the feasibility of this approach. Methods The training course was developed via focus groups and relevant literature and refined with an advisory board. An evaluation design was developed to evaluate training outcomes and to examine feasibility. To assess self-confidence, knowledge, skills, and attitudes: (1) standardized surveys were applied at T1 (before training), T2 (directly after), and T3 (3 months later), and were analyzed by descriptive and non-parametric statistics; and (2) participants’ open feedback was summarized by content. Results A two-day multi-disciplinary training was developed to improve self-confidence via diverse teaching methods. Twenty-four HPs from general and specialized PC were participated. Via self-rating on Likert scales at three time points, improvements were seen at T1, T2, and partly remained at T3, especially in the overall item of self-confidence in communicating with patients about their DD (means: 4.3. at T1, 5.7 at T2, and 5.9 at T3; on a 7-point scale with 1 = lowest value and 7 = highest value). Fewer improvements were found in skills (using different approaches) and attitudes (feeling less helplessness). Open feedback revealed a high appreciation for the training, especially the composition of participants, the role-play, and the overall increase of awareness of the topic. Significance of results The developed training on addressing DD meets a need and was perceived by the participants to be of added value. Future research should measure training effects with a validated instrument, including more participants, diverse participant groups, and a control group. Effects on patients should be assessed.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication about the desire to die: Development and evaluation of a first needs-oriented training concept — A pilot study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the other hand, empirical studies examine the general decision to volunteer (in hospice services; Stelzer and Lang 2014), the determinants of an ongoing provision of volunteer work (Claxton-Oldfield and Jones 2013) and the changes in the volunteer experience over time (Nissim et al 2014). …”

Section: Empirical Evidence In Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The supply side of volunteering in Austrian hospice services: determinants of sustainable voluntary engagement

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Voluntary engagement is a complex social phenomenon that covers work performed without monetary compensation thus creating, on one hand, benefits for volunteers and, on the other hand, social output that would otherwise require paid resources. In this paper, we focus on the role of motives and motive fulfilment and empirically examine their influence on the voluntary engagement in hospice services. Subject and methods This empirical analysis is based on a survey of 223 volunteers of the Austrian Hospice Services. The questionnaire takes findings of economic and psychological literature into account, which enable us to achieve a profound knowledge of the determinants of a sustainable voluntary labour supply. Results Our results show that voluntary labour supply is crucially determined by motives and motive fulfilment. While altruistic motivation lengthens tenure, the fulfilment of altruistic motives negatively influences tenure. Volunteers that are egoistically motivated generally show a shorter duration of employment, whereas if their egoistic motives are fulfilled their tenure increases. Conclusions Our results create an understanding of voluntary labour supply in Austrian hospice services. These findings are helpful for the human resource management in hospices since they provide relevant information for the recruitment but also the retention of the volunteer workforce.

show abstract

“…Despite the valuable role of volunteers in palliative care, difficulties in recruiting a sufficient number of volunteers able to adequately provide EoLC remain (Pesut et al, 2014; Scott, 2015). Such challenges can largely be explained by the taboo of death in certain cultures that prompt people to avoid death-related events and issues (Nissim et al, 2016), although the need for high-quality volunteers in providing EoLC services is another factor (Pesut et al, 2014). Researchers have suggested that certain personality traits especially dispose people to deliver EoLC, including low neuroticism, low personal distress, and low depressive tendency, as well as high extroversion, high openness, high agreeableness, high perspective taking, and high empathic concern (Claxton-Oldfield, 2015; Claxton-Oldfield & Banzen, 2010).…”

Section: Gap 1: Difficulties In Recruiting and Selecting Suitable Volmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of a Holistic Capacity-Building Program for Volunteers in Community-Based End-of-Life Care

Wang

Chan

Lou

2020

Research on Social Work Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Despite the importance of volunteers in end-of-life care (EoLC), ways to empower their engagement therein remain unclear. The aim of our study was to examine the effectiveness of a holistic capacity-building program for volunteers in community-based EoLC. Methods: Applicants completed a capacity-building program in four steps: motivational screening, core competence training, internships, and in-service supervision. Screening involved completing a self-administered risk assessment and being interviewed by a social worker, and a questionnaire was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of training at pretraining, posttraining, and 6-month follow-up. Results: Of 171 applicants, 88 completed core competence training after screening, and 53 continued volunteering for the 6 months that followed. Their competence in EoLC, awareness of self-care, and death work competence significantly improved after training and remained intact at 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: The four-phase capacity-building program effectively empowered volunteers to provide EoLC for elderly persons in their communities.

show abstract

Motivations, Satisfaction, and Fears of Death and Dying in Residential Hospice Volunteers

Abstract: Volunteering in a residential hospice tends to be a satisfying experience that helps to allay fears about death and dying.

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Communication about the desire to die: Development and evaluation of a first needs-oriented training concept — A pilot study

Communication about the desire to die: Development and evaluation of a first needs-oriented training concept — A pilot study

The supply side of volunteering in Austrian hospice services: determinants of sustainable voluntary engagement

Effectiveness of a Holistic Capacity-Building Program for Volunteers in Community-Based End-of-Life Care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About