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Birger Sagiv I, Goldner L, Carmel Y. Civic Engagement in Socially Excluded Young Adults Promotes Well-Being: The Mediation of Self-Efficacy, Meaning in Life, and Identity Exploration. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:9862. [PMID: 36011496 PMCID: PMC9408301 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19169862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Civic engagement is thought to contribute to well-being among young adults. However, less is known about the ways in which civic engagement promotes well-being in general and in particular in socially excluded populations. This study investigated whether civic engagement contributes to life satisfaction and hope in a sample of 127 socially excluded young Israeli women who participated in social activism programs for a period of eight months. A mediation model incorporating self-efficacy, meaning in life, and identity exploration was used to examine the contribution of positive attitudes toward civic engagement, civic engagement skills, and political awareness to the participants' life satisfaction and hope. Indirect effects were found between positive attitudes toward civic engagement, civic engagement skills, and political awareness and the participants' life satisfaction and hope via self-efficacy. Positive attitudes toward civic engagement and political awareness also predicted the participants' life satisfaction via meaning in life. A positive direct effect was found between political awareness and hope. However, contrary to the hypothesis, a negative direct effect was found between positive attitudes toward civic engagement and life satisfaction. Civic engagement skills and political awareness also predicted identity exploration. These findings underscore the need for clinicians to be aware of the potential benefits of civic engagement for the well-being of socially excluded populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irit Birger Sagiv
- School of Creative Arts Therapies, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, The Emili Sagol CATs Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Limor Goldner
- School of Creative Arts Therapies, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, The Emili Sagol CATs Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Yifat Carmel
- School of Creative Arts Therapies, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, The Emili Sagol CATs Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
- Department of Educational Counseling, Faculty of Education, Beit Berl College, Kfar Saba 4490500, Israel
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Tierney S, Mahtani KR, Wong G, Todd J, Roberts N, Akinyemi O, Howes S, Turk A. The role of volunteering in supporting well-being - What might this mean for social prescribing? A best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative research. HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY 2022; 30:e325-e346. [PMID: 34337817 DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Volunteering for an organisation, charity or group enables people to make connections with others and to be involved in interesting, worthwhile and/or enjoyable pursuits. Engaging in volunteering can form part of a social prescribing action plan developed between a patient and link worker. Greater understanding of the processes through which volunteering can improve people's well-being as part of social prescribing will help to support link workers in their role. We conducted a best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative literature on volunteering and well-being. Our search of eight electronic databases, complemented by a Google search, conducted in June 2020, resulted in the location of 2210 potentially relevant references. After screening, 335 papers were read in full and 54 drawn upon within the review. They were published between 1993 and 2020. We used the New Economics Foundation's Five Ways to Well-Being model to guide data extraction and synthesis. From this, we developed a conceptual framework that highlights how volunteering can contribute to identity validation and modification leading to the establishment of an acceptable sense of self. Our findings have implications for: (a) the use of volunteering as part of a link worker's toolkit as they seek to support people with varying psychosocial needs and (b) requirements of organisations accepting referrals to volunteering as part of social prescribing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Tierney
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Kamal R Mahtani
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Geoffrey Wong
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Joy Todd
- Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Nia Roberts
- Bodleian Health Care Libraries, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Oluwafunmi Akinyemi
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Seth Howes
- Worcester College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Amadea Turk
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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A qualitative study of social connectedness and its relationship to community health programs in rural Chiapas, Mexico. BMC Public Health 2020; 20:852. [PMID: 32493280 PMCID: PMC7271512 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-09008-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Social connectedness is an important predictor of health outcomes and plays a large role in the physical and mental health of an individual and a community. The presence of a functioning health clinic with a community health worker program may indirectly improve health outcomes by increasing the social connectedness of the community in addition to providing direct patient care. This study examines the social connectedness of the inhabitants of three Mexican towns within the catchment area of a healthcare Non-Government Organization (NGO) through a qualitative analysis. Methods Willing participants were videotaped answering open-ended questions about their community and use of healthcare resources. Interviews were then coded for relevant themes and analyzed for content relating to social connectedness, social isolation, and health. Results Respondents reported that having a functioning community clinic had improved their lives significantly through direct provision of care and by reducing the financial burden of travel to seek medical care elsewhere. Respondents from each town differed slightly in their primary means of social support. One town relied more heavily on organized groups (i.e., religious groups) for their support system. Social isolation was reported most frequently by housewives who felt isolated in the home and by respondents that had to deal with personal illness. Respondents that self-identified as Community Health Workers (CHWs) in their respective communities acknowledged that their roles bestowed physical and psychological health benefits upon themselves and their families. Conclusions Overall, a long-term health intervention may directly impact the relative social isolation and social connectedness of a community’s inhabitants. The social connectedness of the community is an important quality that must be considered when evaluating and planning health interventions.
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Kpanake L, Dounamou T, Sorum PC, Mullet E. What motivates individuals to volunteer in Ebola epidemic response? A structural approach in Guinea. HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HEALTH 2019; 17:81. [PMID: 31675955 PMCID: PMC6824129 DOI: 10.1186/s12960-019-0409-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa placed greater demands on the affected countries' already scarce health workforce. Consequently, governments in the most affected West African countries made appeals for volunteers to join Ebola response programs. Those volunteers played an important yet high-risk role in aiding the victims of the Ebola epidemic and in limiting its spread. However, little is known as to what motivated those volunteers to commit themselves to the Ebola response programs. This information is important for planning for volunteer recruitment strategies during future epidemics. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to identify and assess the motivations that led individuals to volunteer for Ebola response programs in West Africa. METHODS The study participants were 600 persons who volunteered through the Guinean Ebola response program during the 2014-2016 epidemic. From February to May 2016, they were presented with a questionnaire that contained 50 assertions referring to possible motives for volunteering in the Ebola response program and indicated their degree of agreement with each of them on a scale of 0-10. The responses were analyzed using factor analysis. RESULTS Seven separable volunteer motivations were identified. "Feeling of patriotic duty" (M = 9.02) and "Feeling of moral responsibility" (M = 8.12) clearly emerged as the most important. Second-tier motivations were "Compliance with authority" (M = 6.66), "Desire to use one's skills for a collective good" (M = 6.49), "Seeking personal growth" (M = 5.93), "Desire to gain community recognition" (M = 5.13), and "Hoping for a career reorientation" (M = 4.52). CONCLUSIONS These findings strongly suggest that volunteer recruitment, if needed in future Ebola epidemics, must adopt a multifaceted motivational approach rather than focus on one single motivator. Putting relatively more emphasis on motivational messages referring to patriotic values, as well as to moral responsibility, would likely increase volunteering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lonzozou Kpanake
- University of Québec – TELUQ, 5800, rue Saint-Denis, Bureau 1105, Montréal, Québec H2S 3L5 Canada
| | - Togba Dounamou
- Direction Communale de la Santé de Matoto, Wanindara 1, Commune de Ratoma, Conakry, Guinea
| | - Paul Clay Sorum
- Albany Medical College, Latham Med-Ped, 724 Watervliet-Shaker Road, Latham, Albany, NY 12110 United States of America
| | - Etienne Mullet
- Institute of Advanced Studies (EPHE), 17 bis, rue Quefes, Plaisance du Touch, 31830 Paris, France
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Grace R, Kemp L, Barnes J, Elcombe E, Knight J, Baird K, Webster V, Byrne F. Community Volunteer Support for Families With Young Children: Protocol for the Volunteer Family Connect Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc 2018; 7:e10000. [PMID: 30012544 PMCID: PMC6066638 DOI: 10.2196/10000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Revised: 05/16/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Use of community volunteers to support vulnerable families is a widely employed strategy with a long history. However, there has been minimal formal scientific investigation into the effectiveness of volunteer home visiting programs for families. There is also a need for research examining whether volunteer home visiting leads to improved outcomes for volunteers. Objective The objective of this paper is to describe the research protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Volunteer Family Connect intervention, a volunteer home visiting program designed to support families of young children who experience social isolation or a lack of parenting confidence and skills. The project is being conducted in partnership with 3 leading not-for-profit organizations, designed to contribute to the body of evidence that informs decisions about appropriate family support services according to the level of need. It is the first study to examine outcomes for both the families and the volunteers who deliver the service. Methods The RCT is being conducted in 7 sites across Australia. We aim to recruit 300 families to the study: 150 control (services as usual) and 150 intervention (services as usual + volunteer home visiting) families. Intervention families will receive the service for 3-12 months according to their needs, and all participants will complete 6 data collection points over 15 months. A minimum of 80 volunteers will also be recruited, along with a matched community comparison group. The volunteers will complete 3 data collection points over 12 months. Primary outcomes include community connectedness and parenting competence. Secondary outcomes include parent physical and mental health; general parent well-being; parent empowerment; the child-parent relationship; sustainability of family routines; child immunization; child nutrition or breastfeeding; number of accidental injury reports; and volunteer health, well-being, and community connectedness. Results This effectiveness trial was funded in 2016, and we aim to complete data collection by the end of 2018. The first results are expected to be submitted early in 2019. Conclusions There is a need to rigorously assess volunteer home visiting and whether it has a unique and important role on the service landscape, complementary to professional services. This research is the first trial of a volunteer home visiting program to be conducted in Australia and one of the largest of its kind worldwide. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12616000396426; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=370304 (Archived by WebCite athttp://www.webcitation.org/70q42fU7V) Registered Report Identifier RR1-10.2196/1000
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah Grace
- Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Lynn Kemp
- Translational Research and Social Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Liverpool, Australia
| | - Jacqueline Barnes
- Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Elcombe
- Translational Research and Social Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Liverpool, Australia
| | - Jennifer Knight
- Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Kelly Baird
- Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Vana Webster
- Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Fiona Byrne
- Translational Research and Social Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Liverpool, Australia
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Vareilles G, Pommier J, Marchal B, Kane S. Understanding the performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of health programmes in underserved areas: a realist synthesis. Implement Sci 2017; 12:22. [PMID: 28209201 PMCID: PMC5314678 DOI: 10.1186/s13012-017-0554-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The recruitment of community health volunteers (CHVs) to support the delivery of health programmes is an established approach in underserved areas and in particular where there are health inequalities due to the scarcity of trained human resources. However, there is a dearth of evidence about what works to improve CHVs' performance. This review aimed to synthesise existing literature to explain why, how and under which circumstances intervention approaches to improve the performance of CHVs are more likely to be successful. METHODS We performed a realist synthesis. We identified candidate theories related to our review questions, which then guided the selection, appraisal and analysis of primary studies. Publications of interest dating from 2008 to 2012 were identified by a systematic search in PubMed and IDEAS databases. We considered all study designs that examined the various aspects of CHV performance in the context of formal organisational settings to be eligible and excluded the studies that did not provide explanation about the performance of CHVs neither in the findings nor in the discussion part. Data were arranged according to their reference to context, interventions, outcomes and mechanisms in order to identify the interaction between them. The synthesis of data allowed us to determine explanatory patterns within or across the studies. RESULTS We identified broad intervention approaches within the 23 papers included in the review: positioning of the CHV within the community, establishment of clear roles, provision of skill-based and ongoing training, incentives, supervision and logistical support for task distribution and implementation. The findings provided information regarding which mechanisms (self-esteem, sense of duty, self-efficacy, sense of being fairly treated) to target when implementing such approaches, and which contextual factors (stable and supportive cultural, political and social context and intervention closely linked to local health services) create the most favourable conditions for these mechanisms to occur, ultimately contributing to CHVs' better performance. Four main explanatory patterns around these mechanisms emerged as being fundamental to better performance. CONCLUSIONS The patterns identified, combined with the designers' and other stakeholders' assumptions on how such interventions are expected to work, can be tested by empirical studies in order to provide useful information to be used by programme implementers, policymakers, donors and the community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëlle Vareilles
- EHESP Rennes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 9 place de Metz, Grenoble, 38 000 France
- CNRS, UMR CRAPE Centre de Recherches sur l’Action Politique en Europe-6051, Paris, France
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Community Health and Innovation, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jeanine Pommier
- EHESP Rennes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 9 place de Metz, Grenoble, 38 000 France
- CNRS, UMR CRAPE Centre de Recherches sur l’Action Politique en Europe-6051, Paris, France
| | - Bruno Marchal
- Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Sumit Kane
- KIT Health, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India
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Jack BA, Kirton JA, Birakurataki J, Merriman A. The personal value of being a palliative care Community Volunteer Worker in Uganda: a qualitative study. Palliat Med 2012; 26:753-9. [PMID: 21920988 DOI: 10.1177/0269216311413628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Volunteers in palliative care play a key role, particularly in the hospice setting. The expansion of palliative care into developing countries has been accompanied by the emergence of volunteer workers, who are providing a main source of support and care for patients, many of whom never see a health professional. AIM The aim of this study was to evaluate the motivation for becoming a volunteer and the personal impact of being a palliative care Community Volunteer Worker in Uganda. DESIGN A qualitative methodology using semi-structured individual and group digitally recorded interviews was adopted for the study. Data were analysed for emerging themes using thematic analysis. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS Forty-three interviews were undertaken, 32 with Community Volunteer Workers and 11 with the Hospice clinical teams, using semi-structured digitally recorded individual, group and focus group interviews at the Hospice Africa sites in Uganda. RESULTS The results identified the cultural wish to help people as a key motivator in becoming a volunteer. Additionally, the volunteers reported having a sense of pride in their volunteering role, and this role had a positive impact on their perceived status in their local community. CONCLUSION This model of volunteering is clearly having an impact on the volunteers, both personally and also in terms of how they are treated in their communities. Further research to explore the long-term personal benefits of being a palliative care volunteer is recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara A Jack
- Evidence-based Practice Research Centre, Edge Hill University, UK.
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