Supporting the Volunteer Career of Male Hospice—Palliative Care Volunteers

Hospice volunteers play an essential role in the primary care network for end of life. The purpose of this review was to examine the evidence on hospice volunteers published between 2002 and July 2012. An electronic search of PubMed, CINAHL and PsychINFO using controlled vocabulary, and a reference scan, yielded 54 studies focusing on hospice volunteers. Studies were primarily descriptive using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Findings from studies were grouped thematically into descriptions of the work of hospice volunteers; recruitment, preparation and retention of hospice volunteers; and perspectives and outcomes of the volunteer role. A substantial body of evidence exists describing the roles, stresses and rewards of hospice volunteering. Less is known about how to adequately recruit, prepare and retain volunteers. A small but intriguing body of evidence exists around volunteers' contributions to family satisfaction and patient longevity. Although the evidence around hospice volunteers continues to grow, there is an urgent need for further research. Findings indicate that volunteers make important contributions to high quality end of life care. However, more focused research attention is required to better understand how to maximize this contribution while providing better support for volunteers.

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“…A powerful motivator for these men was having firsthand experience with dying and the support that can be provided through hospice volunteers. 63…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Volunteer Capacity in Hospice Palliative Care

Pesut

Hooper

Lehbauer³

et al. 2012

Am J Hosp Palliat Care

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“…Based on the information gleaned from the face-to-face discussions with a small sample of male hospice palliative care volunteers (n ¼ 4) as well as the previous research, 11,13 it was hypothesized that males might be more interested in becoming a hospice palliative care volunteer after reading a testimonial description of what hospice palliative care volunteers may do than after reading a description-containing examples of what hospice palliative care volunteers may do-that might appear on a community-based hospice palliative care program's web site or in a newspaper ad looking for visiting hospice palliative care volunteers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results of Claxton-Oldfield et al’s study 2 seem to suggest that “when it comes to recruiting male hospice palliative care volunteers, volunteer coordinators might want to emphasize the tasks that most males seem willing to perform.” 13 ( p447) In order to better understand how to recruit male hospice palliative care volunteers, Weeks and MacQuarrie 11 interviewed 9 male current or former hospice palliative care volunteers (mean age = 67 years). With respect to volunteer recruitment, 4 themes emerged in the interviews.…”

Section: Recruiting Male Volunteersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, the traditional male gender role carries with it the breadwinner (paid employment) expectation, with no time for volunteering (unpaid work). A related reason for the shortage of male hospice palliative care volunteers may have to do with how men have traditionally been socialized into problem-solver and fixer roles 11 and not into nurturing or hand-holding roles. 8 A lot of one-on-one volunteering in hospice palliative care involves just “being there” (ie, being present at the dying person’s bedside) and not necessarily problem-solving or fixing things and, of course, death is the one thing that no one can solve or fix.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A Few Good Men: It’s Not Easy Recruiting Male Hospice Palliative Care Volunteers

Claxton‐Oldfield

McCaffrey-Noviss

Hicks

2018

Am J Hosp Palliat Care

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Two studies were conducted to explore how to engage male volunteers in hospice palliative care. Four male hospice palliative care volunteers were interviewed in study 1. The men agreed that a direct approach is best when it comes to recruiting male volunteers, especially a personal story or testimonial. Two different volunteer position descriptions were created for study 2: one description was similar to what might appear on a community-based hospice palliative care program's web site or in a newspaper ad looking for visiting hospice palliative care volunteers; the other description was in the form of a personal testimonial ostensibly written by a male hospice palliative care volunteer describing his role through examples of interactions he has had with patients and patients' family members. Twenty-five males responded to each description. Both of the descriptions generated low and nonsignificantly different levels of interest in becoming a hospice palliative care volunteer. Believing this work to be too emotionally demanding and not having enough time for volunteering were the two most commonly given reasons for not wanting to become a hospice palliative care volunteer. Suggestions for future recruitment efforts are discussed.

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“…6 While hospice organizations may have difficulty in attracting male volunteers, as reported in one of the few studies of male hospice volunteers, there was no evidence to suggest that motivations were gender specific. 7…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%