‘You're not really a visitor, you're just a friend’: how older volunteers navigate home visiting

Lilburn, Lucy E. R.; Breheny, Mary; Pond, Rachael

doi:10.1017/s0144686x16001380

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Cameron et al (2020) reported that for older people volunteering gave them structure and purpose to the day and for the older person in receipt of the volunteer activity they benefited from having someone who could really take the time to talk and listen. Lilburn et al (2018), exploring the experiences of six adults aged 68–90 who volunteer for home visiting, reported that while volunteers positioned the activity as ‘work and a responsibility’ there were also narratives of shifting these obligations into mutual connections that benefit both the volunteer and those they visit. These examples highlight that the ceasing of volunteering activities is likely to have had a detrimental impact on both groups.…”

Section: Health and Wellbeing Effects Of Volunteering On Older Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic policy making: the health and wellbeing effects of the cessation of volunteering on older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Grotz

Dyson

Birt

2020

QAOA

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Purpose This policy-orientated commentary aims to provide a perspective on the effects of policy changes designed to reduce the risk of infection as a result of COVID-19. The example of the abrupt cessation of volunteering activities is used to consider the policy and practice implications that need to be acknowledged in new public service research to deal with the on-going implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and for future preparedness. Design/methodology/approach The paper will provide a critical challenge to English pandemic health policy making, in particular, the national instruction “to stop non-essential contact with others” without a strategy on how to remedy the serious side effects of this instruction, in particular on older adults. Findings The abrupt cessation of volunteering activities of and for older people because of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly likely to have negative health and wellbeing effects on older adults with long-term and far-reaching policy implications. Originality/value The paper combines existing knowledge volunteering of and for older adults with early pandemic practice evidence to situate an emerging health and wellbeing crisis for older adults. It emphasises the importance of immediate further detailed research to provide evidence for policy and practice following the lifting of COVID-19 related restrictions and in preparation for future crises.

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Section: Health and Wellbeing Effects Of Volunteering On Older Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic policy making: the health and wellbeing effects of the cessation of volunteering on older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Grotz

Dyson

Birt

2020

QAOA

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“…Training and orientation sessions provided by volunteer organizations are also critically important in shaping prospective volunteers' image of their clients and their needs (Holden, 1997;Jensen, Lou, Aagaard, & Vaeggemose, 2017;Kramer, 2010;Lilburn, Breheny, & Pond, 2018;McCorkle et al, 2009;Musick & Wilson, 2008;Thompson, Valenti, Siette, & Priebe, 2016). The content of training is reported to generate concern and trepidation among the prospective volunteers (Greenwood et al, 2016).…”

Section: Application Of the Role Commitment Model Other's Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Role Commitment and Role Maintenance Strategies: A Symbolic interactionist Approach to Volunteering

Behnia

2021

CJNSER

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There are numerous reports on the rates of attrition among volunteers as a persistent challenge for organizations. In explaining volunteer attrition, researchers have predominantly: 1) provided an individualistic account of volunteering; 2) overlooked the interactional dimension of volunteer work and the crucial role of interpretation in its development; and 3) assumed commitment as a function of satisfaction with volunteering experience. Drawing on the theoretical insights of a symbolic interactionist approach, this article contends that volunteers’ role commitment hinges on their satisfaction with their interpretation of their interaction with clients, rather than the interaction itself. This perspective calls attention to the volunteer-client dyadic interaction, gives a prominent place to the social role and its definition, and draws attention to strategies used by volunteers to sustain challenging relationship with clients. RÉSUMÉIl existe de nombreux rapports sur les pourcentages de bénévoles perdus et le défi que ces pertes posent pour les organismes. Pour expliquer ces bénévoles perdus, les chercheurs ont surtout : 1) fourni des comptes rendus individualistes du bénévolat; 2) ignoré la dimension interactionnelle du bénévolat et le rôle crucial de l’interprétation dans le développement des interactions; et 3) pris pour acquis l’engagement comme indice de satisfaction des bénévoles. Se fondant sur la perspective théorique offerte par l’interactionnisme symbolique, cet article maintient que l’engagement des bénévoles dépend de la manière dont ils interprètent leurs interactions avec les clients plutôt que des interactions elles-mêmes. Cette perspective met l’accent sur l’interaction dyadique entre le bénévole et le client, donne une place de choix au rôle social et à sa définition, et attire l’attention sur les stratégies employées par les bénévoles pour gérer des rapports parfois difficiles avec leurs clients.

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“…In studies of the relationships created in home visiting services ( e.g. Fournier, 2018; Lilburn et al ., 2018), a central characteristic of the relationship is that the older volunteers adopt a professional approach in their role as visitors. Through scheduled visits and volunteer courses they feel equipped to create a room of trust for an isolated older person.…”

Section: Blurry Volunteeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Danish welfare state is increasingly dependent on volunteers who are intended to help solve future welfare challenges (La Cour and Højlund, 2008). Of particular interest in this regard is the challenge of an ageing society consisting of an increasing number of older people who need care (Lilburn et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Introduction and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reattached: emerging relationships and subjectivities when engaging frail older people as volunteer language teachers in Denmark

Fournier

Lassen

2019

Ageing and Society

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As a response to an ageing population, and to benefit from senior citizens’ resources and improve their quality of life, European countries are increasingly engaging older volunteers in the old-age sector and care environments. Older Danes’ participation in volunteer work is high; however, nursing home residents and home care recipients are typically not part of these initiatives as volunteers, but as the receivers of volunteer care. We investigate an initiative that engages frail older people as volunteer language teachers for foreigners learning Danish in an endeavour to utilise their resources as volunteers and to engage the language teachers socially. Through participant observations and semi-structured interviews with older volunteers, Danish-language students and care personnel, we explore what constitutes good social relationships in this specific initiative, how these relationships are created and the kind of subject that appears through Elderlearn. We are inspired by the sociology of attachment as we describe how frail older people emerge as engaged subjects by becoming reattached to their life histories, interests, abilities and relational skills. In this regard, good social relationships surpass the immediate volunteer–recipient bond and create a ‘blurry volunteering’ with less distinct divisions of who gives and who receives. This generates constructive relationships created through interlinguistic competences, international consciousness, and use of materials, objects and the local community. We argue that this arrangement reattaches the language teachers to their life histories, thereby enabling the emergence of a different kind of international and engaged old-age subjectivity.

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‘You're not really a visitor, you're just a friend’: how older volunteers navigate home visiting

Cited by 11 publications

References 26 publications

Pandemic policy making: the health and wellbeing effects of the cessation of volunteering on older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Pandemic policy making: the health and wellbeing effects of the cessation of volunteering on older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Role Commitment and Role Maintenance Strategies: A Symbolic interactionist Approach to Volunteering

Reattached: emerging relationships and subjectivities when engaging frail older people as volunteer language teachers in Denmark

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