Beneficiaries of volunteering: a bioethical perspective (original) (raw)
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Bioethics, critical solidarity and organic volunteering
Objective The study proposes “critical solidarity” as a value to be incorporated into the 21st century’s bioethics agenda and as an instrument to guide people and associations in volunteer praxis. Methods To explain how solidarity materializes itself, the motivations for engaging in volunteer activities in associations that integrate the corps of volunteers of the Instituto Nacional do Cancer [National Cancer Institute] in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are analyzed. The data for analysis were obtained by applying two instruments. The first one consists of a questionnaire divided into two parts: one part identifies the socio-economic profile, and the other identifies solidarity as a value that motivates volunteer activity. The second instrument comprises of semi structured interviews utilized to collect supplementary data for analysis. Results The results indicate that volunteering is based on three basic motivations: a) personal motivations related to life as a volunteer, b) motivations resulting from professed beliefs, and c) motivations aroused by the feeling of solidarity. Conclusions It was concluded that the incorporation of critical solidarity requires a rupture with the detected model of patronizing volunteering; it implies explicating the common selfish interests that permeate volunteer activities and qualify an organic volunteering, that is, volunteering which is politically aware and committed to responding to the specific demands of the present time.
The Effect of Volunteer Work in Hospitals: In a Brazilian University Hospital
2021
Na gestao das instituicoes de saude, em especial das estruturas hospitalares, a hipotese de que o trabalho voluntario proporciona mais eficiencia na assistencia hospitalar e um pensamento comum ao longo da pratica cotidiana dessas instituicoes. No entanto, faltam evidencias quantitativas de apoio a esse argumento. Este artigo tem como objetivo identificar o efeito do trabalho voluntario na qualidade do atendimento, mais especificamente, o efeito na satisfacao do usuario, na taxa media de permanencia e na taxa de infeccoes hospitalares, em uma Instituicao Hospitalar Universitaria do Sul do Brasil. Trata-se de um estudo quantitativo baseado em relatorios gerenciais internos, cujas analises foram realizadas por meio de regressoes multiplas, testes de normalidade de residuos e testes de multicolinearidade. Os resultados apontam para dois indicadores claros da eficacia do trabalho voluntario: Taxa Media de Permanencia e Taxa Media de Infeccao Hospitalar. Ambos demonstram que, alem de pro...
Motivation among hospital volunteers: an empirical analysis in Portugal
The purpose of this paper is to identify the different types of motivations in hospital volunteers. We present a literature review about different types of motivation and we collect data from hospital volunteers through a questionnaire. Four different motivation categories are identified: development and learning, altruism, career recognition and belonging and protection. The main motivations expressed are development and learning, followed by altruism. Belonging and protection, followed by career recognition are the least cited motivations. Career recognition is negatively correlated with age, and belonging/ protection is negatively correlated with education. That is, younger volunteers present more career recognition motives and less educated volunteers have more from protection and belonging. This study encompasses hospital volunteers and their motivations. The paper is useful to policy makers aiming to develop targeted approaches to attracting and retaining volunteers.
Perceptions of short-term medical volunteer work: a qualitative study in Guatemala
Globalization and Health, 2009
Each year medical providers from wealthy countries participate in short-term medical volunteer work in resource-poor countries. Various authors have raised concern that such work has the potential to be harmful to recipient communities; however, the social science and medical literature contains little research into the perceptions of short-term medical volunteer work from the perspective of members of recipient communities. This exploratory study examines the perception of short-term medical volunteer work in Guatemala among groups of actors affected by or participating in these programs.
Volunteering for Health Services in the Middle Part of Ghana: In Whose Interest?
2018
Background: In many developing countries like Ghana, community volunteers assist in the provision of certain health services to rural and hard-to-reach communities. This study examined factors that influence the motivation and retention of community-based volunteers supporting with work on health-related activities at the community level in Ghana. Methods: Using a sequential mixed-method design, a cross-sectional survey was carried out among 205 selected community-based volunteers in Kintampo North Municipality (KNM) and Kintampo South District (KSD) of Ghana between December, 2014 and February, 2015. Qualitative interviews, including 12 in-depth interviews (IDIs) among health workers and community opinion leaders and 2 focus group discussion (FGD) sessions with volunteers were conducted. Results: Personal interest (32.7%) and community leaders' selection of volunteers (30.2%) were key initial reasons for volunteering. Monetary incentives such as allowance for extra duty (88.8%) and per diem (49.3%) and non-monetary incentives such as T-shirts/bags (45.4 %), food during training (52.7%), community recognition, social prestige and preferential treatment at health facilities were the facilitators of volunteers' retention. There was a weak evidence (P = .051) to suggest that per diem for their travels is a reason for volunteers' satisfaction. Conclusion: Community-based volunteers' motivation and retention were influenced by their personal interest in the form of recognition by community members and health workers, community leaders' selection and other non-monetary incentives. Volunteers were motivated by extra-duty allowance but not per diems paid for accommodation and feeding when they travel. Organizations that engage community volunteers are encouraged to strengthen the selection of volunteers in collaboration with community leaders, and to provide both non-monetary and monetary incentives to motivate volunteers. Implications for policy makers • Volunteer involving organizations should take note of monetary and non-monetary incentives among volunteers to help in their recruitment and retention. • Attention should be given to community leaders' selection of volunteers since it gives volunteers traditional authorization and also serve as an important motivation among them. • Healthcare managers and administrators should encourage the establishment of context-specific community incentive systems to motivate and retain volunteers. • There is the need for the Ministries of Health and health service managers to establish a general incentive package for volunteers in low resource settings to sustain their interest. Though the work is voluntary, volunteers work in relatively poor communities where the standard of living is relatively low. Incentives in the form of monthly honorarium (monetary) will motivate volunteers to give out their best to complement the health system. Implications for the public As part of addressing health workforce challenge particularly in developing countries community-based volunteers (CBVs) assist professional health workers to extend healthcare coverage and key health interventions to rural communities and some urban settings. The CBVs at our study site are no exception. However, our findings revealed that these volunteers do not receive salary for services rendered but volunteer to complement the staff strength of the local health system to improve on the health of their community. Understanding motivations of these volunteers is therefore important in order for healthcare managers and community/public to develop effective volunteer recruitment, motivation and retention strategies. Also community members/ public need to be sensitized that, Community-based Volunteers in Ghana are not paid as such they require community support to continue volunteering. The support could be recognition of their services through exemptions from communal labour, words of encouragement and helping volunteers to work on their farms periodically. Abstract In a recent article, Gorik Ooms has drawn attention to the normative underpinnings of the politics of global health. We claim that Ooms is indirectly submitting to a liberal conception of politics by framing the politics of global health as a question of individual morality. Drawing on the theoretical works of Chantal Mouffe, we introduce a conflictual concept of the political as an alternative to Ooms' conception. Using controversies surrounding medical treatment of AIDS patients in developing countries as a case we underline the opportunity for political changes, through political articulation of an issue, and collective mobilization based on such an articulation. Citation: Askheim C, Heggen K, Engebretsen E. Politics and power in global health: the constituting role of conflicts: Comment on " Navigating between stealth advocacy and unconscious dogmatism: the challenge of researching the norms, politics and power of global health.
Promoting Volunteerism in Global Health: Lessons from a Medical Mission in Northern Mexico
Journal of Community Health, 2013
The challenges of meeting global health care needs in communities throughout the developing world are becoming increasingly complex. Understanding what motivates volunteers is important for organizations that seek to harness and develop long-term volunteers in order to meet the need for global health care services. Here we report a case study of a successful volunteer clinic that has provided medical, dental and surgical services to underserved residents of northern Mexico for more than 20 years. Our objective was to understand what promotes sustained volunteerism. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, residents, nurses, dentists, oral surgeons and community volunteers, in addition to four full days of participant observation. We analysed volunteers' experiences with a real-life global medical mission and offer recommendations. Motivating factors included psychological and emotional rewards, careerrelated benefits, opportunities for interpersonal interaction, the opportunity to serve disadvantaged communities and personal relevance of the mission. We demonstrate the paramount importance of volunteer-patient interaction, having a dedicated facilitator to recruit and pave the way for first-time volunteers and the value of using multiple recruitment strategies. Most important, we show that organizations must focus on facilitating first-time volunteers' experiences, particularly by ensuring that they are given specific roles and responsibilities, one of the best predictors of volunteer satisfaction and sustained volunteerism.
Why am i a volunteer?": building a quantitative scale
REAd. Revista Eletrônica de Administração (Porto Alegre), 2013
This paper aims to analyze the validity of a quantitative instrument to identify what attracts someone to volunteer work, as well as what makes them stay and what makes them quit such an activity. The theoretical framework lists aspects related to volunteer work, which is followed by a discussion on models of analysis of volunteer motivation. As to the objectives, this research is descriptive, since it presents the analysis of the validity of a quantitative instrument that seeks to understand and describe the reasons for volunteering at the Pastoral da Criança, a Brazilian NGO. This instrument is based on theoretical ideas by Souza, Medeiros and Fernandes (2006). Reliability - Cronbach's Alpha - reached values between 0.7 and 0.8. Regarding Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy a good index was also obtained: 0.74. Despite the good results of reliability and sampling adequacy of factor analysis, none of the variables resulted in the expected combination, namely: indica...
The Context of Ethical Problems in Medical Volunteer Work
HEC Forum, 2011
Ethical problems are common in clinical medicine, so medical volunteers who practice clinical medicine in developing countries should expect to encounter them just as they would in their practice in the developed world. However, as this article argues, medical volunteers in developing countries should not expect to encounter the same ethical problems as those that dominate Western biomedicine or to address ethical problems in the same way as they do in their practice in developed countries. For example, poor health and advanced disease increase the risks and decrease the potential benefits of some interventions. Consequently, when medical volunteers intervene too readily, without considering the nutritional and general health status of patients, the results can be devastating. Medical volunteers cannot assume that the outcomes of interventions in developing countries will be comparable to the outcomes of the same interventions in developed countries. Rather, they must realistically consider the complex medical conditions of patients when determining whether or not to intervene. Similarly, medical volunteers may face the question of whether to provide a pharmaceutical or perform an intervention that is below the acceptable standard of care versus the alternative of doing nothing. This article critically explores the contextual features of medical volunteer work in developing countries that differentiate it from medical practice in developed countries, arguing that this context contributes to the creation of unique ethical problems and affects the way in which these problems should be analyzed and resolved.
Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 2021
Introduction: There are very few studies from Western countries and almost none from India, that have tried to understand the factors influencing students’ motivation to volunteer for community service and much less on medical student’s motivation to volunteer for community service. Aim: To identify the factors that influence motivation of medical students to volunteer for community service. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study was done over a period of two weeks in November 2017. The study participants were medical students of a private medical college from Southern India. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide based on a standardised motivation to volunteer inventory. Data was collected till data saturation was reached, which was 20 students. The interviews were conducted in privacy. Verbatim notes were taken and the interview was also recorded after taking consent from the participants. The data was transcribed and triangulation done. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis approach. Results: The main motives were enhancement and career motives. Value was not the main motive. Two other motives emerged, that were curiosity and relief from boredom. Conclusion: The study shows that the main motives behind volunteerism were enhancement and career. This was the first such study from India to the best of our knowledge which has enquired into the motives behind volunteerism in medical students.
Conceptualizing Philanthropic Behaviour and Its Antecedents of Volunteers in Health Care
This article aims is to identify antecedents of philanthropic behavior as mediated by social networking of professionals in health care sector. This study is based on reviews of past studies on philanthropic behavior locally and internationally. These reviews were conducted using several keywords such as philanthropy, philanthropic behavior, giving donations, and volunteering through several electronic databases available including Google Scholar, Emerald, SAGE, Springerlink, Science Direct, and Wiley. We found four groups of philanthropic antecedents including extrinsic, intrinsic, social, and organizational factors. Based on this finding, a research framework is developed to be used for future investigation about factors affecting the philanthropic behavior among community health volunteers as mediated by social networking.