Chapter 3: Volunteerism
3.4. The importance of volunteer well-being
3.4.2. Promoting volunteer well-being
Since volunteers play a significant role in assisting communities, attention should be given to their experiences and the related emotions. They need to be given sufficient opportunity to ventilate problems with emotional overload and workload adjustment, and they need to be provided with emotional support.
3.4.2.1. Approaches to managing stress and burnout
"Everyone acknowledges that caring for caregivers is important - but do we really do it? " Dr David Weissman (in Meier & Beresford, 2006, p. 1046)
Meier and Beresford (2006) offer a number of recommendations which may assist caregivers offering support in order to prevent burnout:
(1) Self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-monitoring are ways of paying attention to one's level of stress and personal triggers. By doing this, one can take necessary action before one begins to feel overwhelmed by one's circumstances;
(2) A supportive team provides the opportunity of sharing difficult cases and the feelings they arouse with others;
(3) Formal, scheduled support mechanisms such as support groups assist with exploring personal feelings about the work, rather than clinical problem-solving;
(4) Mentoring from a more experienced caregiver can be helpful;
(5) Team-designed rituals and other opportunities to acknowledge losses and clients that may have died or experienced tragedies;
(6) Having a personal support system, such as a supportive primary relationship, and balancing work and other aspects of one's life is very important.
It can be difficult for those offering care to others to acknowledge their personal need for care and support. Yet taking care of oneself is an essential part of having a career in volunteerism or caregiving that is psychologically sustainable (Meier & Beresford, 2006).
3.4.2.2. The rewards of volunteering
There is a paradoxical benefit of personally received help from one's efforts to help others. Nord (1997) writes, "I have gotten far more out of my volunteer work than I have given" (p.208). Research suggests that offering social support to others is more of a buffer to stress than receiving support oneself (Hays et al., 1990, in Nord, 1997).
Guinan et al. (1991) identified four reward factors of individuals volunteering with HIV/AIDS patients. These include: (i)personal effectiveness, that is the volunteer's perception of his/her effectiveness in their service; (ii) emotional support, which the volunteer receives within and outside of the organisation; (iii) social support, which is defined as the individual's involvement in satisfying social activities; and (iv)
empathy/self-knowing, which refers to the volunteers' empathy for his/her clients, and his/her personal growth. Emotional support may serve as a reward to volunteers when they feel free to express their emotions, feel that they are needed and wanted, that they are fulfilling emotional needs, and when they are receiving emotional support (Nesbitt et al., 1996).
When volunteers perceive themselves to be effective in their service, the risk of attrition is reduced (Bennett et al., 1996). Management can play a powerful role in influencing the volunteers' perception of their work. Recognition and support from management can serve as reward to volunteers (ibid.). Gratitude from the individuals whom a volunteer assists can also function as a reward to the volunteer. This occurs when for instance the volunteer feels that he or she is 'making a difference,' or when he or she 'feels important to the client' (Bennett et al., 1996). These factors serve to create a positive environment in which the volunteers function, and are associated with a lower risk of burnout (Bennett etal., 1996).
There is a great need to find methods of increasing the reward and recognition given to volunteers. One way of achieving this is by recognising the psychosocial successes of care. Bennett (1994, in Bennett et al., 1996) asserts that it essential that the concept of 'success' as an HIV/AIDS volunteer is redefined, moving away from a focus on cure.
This may serve to reduce the risk of attrition and burnout among volunteers, while
enhancing their psychological well being, and creating a favourable atmosphere within the work setting.
3.4.2.3. Mentorship by management
Mentorship by management must be distinguished from supervision. The latter
"facilitates, guides, directs, enhances and protects the counselling process, through an interaction between supervisor and supervisee" (Lifeline Australia, as cited in Van Rooyen, Solomon, Nott, Akhurst, Meyer, Joubert, Brouard, Saloner, Moodley, Blom &
van der Watt, 2004). Supervision aims at providing the client with appropriate service delivery that protects the client, enhances training and ensures effective management of the client / counsellor interaction (Van Rooyen et al., 2004). Mentoring, however, is aimed at meeting the needs of the counsellor (or volunteer) by means of a supportive relationship.
Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2001, in Day, 2006) describe the mentorship relationship as
"a friendship which encompasses adult equality, but the mentor also performs the fatherly (and/or motherly) tasks of teaching, caring, criticising, helping, and offering constructive suggestions in both career and personal matters" (p. 196). The strength of mentorship lies in providing emotional support to the volunteers, while encouraging ongoing learning and skill development (Van Rooyen et al., 2004).
Listening is a critical skill to effective mentoring (Young & Cates, 2004). When proteges feels that they are heard by management, they tend to adopt a more positive attitude toward the organisation, while trust and commitment are established (ibid.). They begin to feel that they belong to the organisation, establishing a sense of connectivity.
Simultaneously, as they are listened to, the proteges feel that they are free to express their individuality. In the long term this seems to have an impact on the retention of
individuals within the organisation (ibid.).
When listening to a mentee, there are generally two responses from the mentor:
emotional understanding and direction (Young & Cates, 2004). Emotional understanding
response can be extremely therapeutic to the mentee, especially when they working in a challenging environment. Directive listening then assists the mentee in giving advice, offering opinions and perspectives.
When a volunteer feels that they are listened to, literature suggests that this has a positive impact on their trust, motivation and performance within the organisation (Stine et al.,
1995, in Young & Cates, 2004). Effective mentoring by management is therefore important for the long-term sustainability of effective counselling or intervention programmes (Van Rooyen et al., 2004).