Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Virtual Volunteering During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study explored older adults’ technology use patterns and attitudes toward virtual volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 22-item survey was administered to 229 volunteers in the St. Louis region who tutor children through the Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring program. Although most respondents are familiar with technology and expressed that they are likely to volunteer virtually, their responses varied significantly by age, education, gender, income, and school districts. Some tutors expressed that virtual volunteering may eliminate barriers to in-person volunteering, while others were concerned with establishing a personal connection with students online. These findings suggest that tutors anticipate both benefits and challenges with virtual volunteering and that efforts to engage older adults during the pandemic should factor in prior use of technology and ensure that different subgroups are not marginalized.

Helping Behavior of Older Adults during the Early COVID-19 Lockdown in Belgium

“…A study that took place in the United States and Canada during the pandemic found that older age was associated with more frequent engagement in formal and informal volunteering compared to younger age groups ( Sin et al, 2021 ). For instance, older people with lifelong careers in the medical field – such as nurses, doctors, and social workers – volunteered in the medical field or older people helped online as tutors to support families with homeschooling ( Halpern, 2020 ; Sun et al, 2021 ). At the same time, we must remember that there are volunteers, including many older adults, who are unable to fulfill voluntary roles because of pandemic-related stay-at-home regulations and changes in the operations of social services and other nonprofit organizations ( Morrow-Howell et al, 2020 ; Seddighi et al., 2020 ; Sun et al., 2021 ).…”

“…For instance, older people with lifelong careers in the medical fieldsuch as nurses, doctors, and social workersvolunteered in the medical field or older people helped online as tutors to support families with homeschooling (Halpern, 2020;Sun et al, 2021). At the same time, we must remember that there are volunteers, including many older adults, who are unable to fulfill voluntary roles because of pandemic-related stay-at-home regulations and changes in the operations of social services and other nonprofit organizations Seddighi et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2021).…”

Experiences of Older Adults During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: An Initial Exploration of Nationally Representative Data at the Intersection of Gender and Race

“…Second, future research needs to identify changes more clearly in activity participation and the reasons for reduced and missed wellness opportunities (e.g., volunteering). For instance, while our findings (7%) indicated that the volunteer participation rate might have decreased, compared to the pre-pandemic period statistic (25%; see Grimm, 2018 ), qualitative changes in volunteering (e.g., formal, informal, virtual, COVID-19-related) are yet to be investigated ( Sun et al, 2021 ). Third, using only one life satisfaction assessment item may fail to capture overall subjective well-being as well as concerns about specific life domains.…”

Antecedents of physicians' intentions to engage in digital volunteering work: an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) approach

“…However, fear of contracting COVID-19 can prevent large numbers of volunteers, including physicians, from engaging in volunteering. Therefore, digital volunteering during the COVID-19 crisis can be considered as an effective strategy to respond to social distancing and lockdown measures (Lachance, 2020; Sun et al. , 2021).…”