Paradoxical and powerful: Volunteers’ experiences of befriending people with dementia

Greenwood, Diane E.; Gordon, Carolyn; Pavlou, Claire; J, Bolton

doi:10.1177/1471301216654848

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This raises awareness and implications about the meaningful role of volunteers and practitioners working in organisations to support people living alone with dementia to find new friends and social networks. Greenwood et al (2016) and Smith et al (2018) have shown that volunteers often initially had low knowledge and held stereotyped views about dementia but that this changed as they worked with people living with dementia and carers. Volunteers shared that they supported people living with dementia with social connections and maintaining friendships (Greenwood et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greenwood et al (2016) and Smith et al (2018) have shown that volunteers often initially had low knowledge and held stereotyped views about dementia but that this changed as they worked with people living with dementia and carers. Volunteers shared that they supported people living with dementia with social connections and maintaining friendships (Greenwood et al, 2016). This reveals the benefits of peer support and contact with befriending organisations that could include a central person that supported the social networks for people living alone with dementia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘It's our pleasure, we count cars here’: an exploration of the ‘neighbourhood-based connections’ for people living alone with dementia

et al. 2019

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The extent of social isolation experienced by people living with dementia who reside in the community has been well acknowledged, yet little is known about how people living alone with dementia maintain neighbourhood-based connections. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of people with dementia who live alone, focusing upon how they establish social networks and relationships in a neighbourhood context, and how they are supported to maintain this social context within everyday life. Multiple data collection methods were used including, semi-structured interviews, walking interviews, guided home tours and social network mapping, which were conducted with 14 community-dwelling people living alone with dementia (11 women and three men) situated across the three international study sites in England, Scotland and Sweden. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed four main themes: (a) making the effort to stay connected; (b) befriending by organisations and facilitated friendships; (c) the quiet neighbourhood atmosphere; and (d) changing social connections. The analysis suggests that people with dementia who live alone were active agents who took control to find and maintain relationships and social networks in the neighbourhood. Our findings indicate the need to raise awareness about this specific group in both policy and practice, and to find creative ways to help people connect through everyday activities and by spontaneous encounters in the neighbourhood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It's our pleasure, we count cars here’: an exploration of the ‘neighbourhood-based connections’ for people living alone with dementia

et al. 2019

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“…Some studies reported a reduction of depressive symptoms [ 5 , 6 ] and social isolation [ 7 ] in people supported by befrienders. The literature suggests that volunteer befrienders can reap benefits as well, even outside mental health, such as being able to help others, gain experience, or develop a sense of satisfaction from befriending [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics, motivations and experiences of volunteer befrienders for people with mental illness: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

et al. 2018

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BackgroundThe literature suggests that many people in the general population tend to distance themselves from those with mental illness. However, there are volunteers that behave differently, spending their free time with people with mental illness and providing direct input in the form of befriending. Whilst there are a range of befriending programmes, little is known about who these volunteer befrienders are, and a previous review of different forms of volunteering in mental health care found data on only 63 befrienders.MethodsWe conducted a systematic electronic search of databases (BNI, CNIL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Registers, Web of Science) to detect all papers reporting characteristics of befriending volunteers in mental health care published between 2011 and April 2018. The articles retrieved were combined with previous papers identified in an earlier review and with relevant papers identified by experts in the field. The articles that met the inclusion criteria were extracted and narratively synthesised.ResultsNine studies met the inclusion criteria for this review, reporting characteristics of a total of 577 volunteer befrienders. The most often reported characteristics were age and gender, motivations to volunteer and experience of the role. Whilst characteristics vary greatly, most volunteers are female, and the average age is 50 years. Motivations generally fit into the categories of “giving” and “getting” and experiences are mixed.ConclusionPublished research on volunteer befrienders has increased in the last eight years, but is still limited. The range of characteristics suggests that there is a potential for encouraging a variety of people to volunteer as befrienders for people with mental illness. Understanding the characteristics and motivations of volunteers may help refine programmes and improve the experience of the volunteer befrienders.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-018-1960-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…First, since the number of people with dementia is large and increasing, it is anticipated that not only caregiving by family members and professionals but also community-integrated care with the participation of citizen volunteers would be important considering the expanding care costs and stigma in the community [4,29]. Second, citizen volunteers with various work and life experiences may be able to offer a variety of valuable abilities [30]. Third, as citizens, citizen volunteers could be closer to the guests who gather in dementia cafés and may be able to communicate with guests and understand their feelings, which medical and care professionals often find difficult [8].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dementia Cafés as Hubs to Promote Community-Integrated Care for Dementia through Enhancement of the Competence of Citizen Volunteer Staff Using a New Assessment Tool

Takechi

Yamamoto²,

Matsunagaa

et al. 2019

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

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Introduction: Dementia cafés have recently been attracting attention. The increased involvement of citizen volunteers and the competence of dementia café staff could enhance the potential of dementia cafés. The aim of the present study was to examine enhancement of the competence of citizen volunteers using a new assessment tool. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 433 dementia café staff members, including medical and care professionals and citizen volunteers. A 20-item dementia café staff self-assessment (DCSA) instrument was newly developed. After confirmation of the reliability and validity of the instrument, DCSA scores among citizen volunteers were evaluated. Results: DCSA showed very good psychometric properties. The mean (±SD) DCSA score was significantly higher for café staff with a medical and care professional background (n = 267) than for citizen volunteers (n = 166) (2.2±0.5 vs. 1.7±0.7, respectively; p < 0.001). The DCSA scores of citizen volunteers became significantly higher with increasing attendance (minimum: n = 24; 1.3±0.7; intermediate: n = 65; 1.6±0.6; and frequent: n = 77; 1.8±0.7; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Assessment of the competence of dementia café staff using the DCSA revealed the potential of citizen volunteers. This tool could also enhance the potential of dementia cafés.

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Paradoxical and powerful: Volunteers’ experiences of befriending people with dementia

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

‘It's our pleasure, we count cars here’: an exploration of the ‘neighbourhood-based connections’ for people living alone with dementia

‘It's our pleasure, we count cars here’: an exploration of the ‘neighbourhood-based connections’ for people living alone with dementia

Characteristics, motivations and experiences of volunteer befrienders for people with mental illness: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Dementia Cafés as Hubs to Promote Community-Integrated Care for Dementia through Enhancement of the Competence of Citizen Volunteer Staff Using a New Assessment Tool

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