Slides from a recent webinar presenting research into opportunities for care home residents to volunteer in care homes, and how older people benefit from volunteering.

1. RESIDENTS AS
VOLUNTEERS
PROJECT RESULTS
Webinar
Lisa Hornung
18/10/2018

2. CONTENTS
 About the project
 What we knew already
 Findings
 Conclusion and outlook
 Q&A

3. ABOUT THE PROJECT
1

4. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The project aimed to:
 support over-75s who live in
Abbeyfield homes to volunteer
 explore the barriers and the benefits
 generate good practice evidence
around effective engagement

5. PROJECT ROLES
Delivery partners: The Abbeyfield Society & NCVO
Participants
 Resident volunteers
 Inspirational volunteers
 Staff
Resident
Volunteers
Homes
72 26
Recruited in Year Two

6. EVALUATION DESIGN
Use of mixed methods including
 Pre- and post survey with a 6-month interval
 Monthly monitoring data
 Interviews
Survey
Hours logs
Interviews
Staff &
Inspirational
volunteer
Resident
volunteer
0-month 6-month

7. WHAT WE KNEW ALREADY
2

8. VOLUNTEERING HAS MANY BENEFITS BUT
RATES DROP FOR THE VERY OLD
 Volunteering has many benefits for volunteers, especially in later
life
 Data shows that volunteering rates drop for over 75s
32%
39%
29%
34%
0%
25%
50%
Formal Informal
65 to 74
75 and over
Volunteering rates in 2016/17

9. THERE IS A LACK OF RESEARCH INTO THE OLDER
OLD
Most existing research
 define older people as over 50
 focus on formal volunteering
 use existing data sets
Undertaking primary research with older people is challenging
 Range of symptoms and circumstances
 Cognitive impairments and dementia

10. RESIDENTS IN CARE HOMES FACE
PARTICULAR CHALLENGES
Typically, people living in care home settings:
 are ‘older old’
 move away from their home and
neighbourhoods
 experience significant transitions
 live with more than two long term
conditions ”
Many of our
residents are much older, and
have a range of mobility
issues as well as mental
health conditions.
House manager
“

11. FINDINGS
3

12. SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT FOCUSED ON
ROLES RATHER THAN RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS
 Residents don’t see themselves as
volunteers
 Recruitment process differed between
houses
 Successful recruitment
• adopted an open language
• focused on specific roles
• was resident-led
”
I think you’ve got
be very careful of how you
approach them and get them
to be the lead, not you be the
lead.
Staff
“

13. MOST VOLUNTEERING WAS INFORMAL
AND INSIDE THE HOME
Role type Examples %
In-home informal – domestic Making tea, setting the table, gardening, … 37%
In-home informal - social Music, quiz, board games, book club, … 31%
In-home informal - external benefit Befriending inside the home 3%
In-home formal - external benefit
Knitting for babies, organising refugee wash
packs, … 7%
In-home formal Being committee member 2%
Outside informal Running errands for residents, organising social
trips, …
11%
Outside formal Arrange flowers in church, reading assistant in
school, …
10%

14. ROLES WERE LINKED TO RESIDENTS’
INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCES
Ex-yoga teacher
leads meditation
group
Ex-head of
library runs film
club
Hobby painter
runs arts group

15. SUPPORT WAS CRUCIAL FOR A POSITIVE
VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE
9
32
19
17
25
35
38
30
10
25
22
23
13
18
61
58
53
53
52
48
44
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Staff support
IV support
Coordination
Dealing with problems
Range of activities
Induction
Recruitment
Very dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied
Neither satisfied or dissatisfied Fairly satisfied
Satisfaction with the volunteering journey (%)

16. HOMES NEED MORE SUPPORT IN RECRUITING
INSPIRATIONAL VOLUNTEERS
 Only few homes had inspirational
volunteers
 Homes acknowledged the role’s
potential
 Need for more support and guidance
in recruiting people
”
If you bring
somebody in as the [IV] it
takes some of the pressure
off you and leaves you with
the ability to stand back and
observe.
Staff
“

17. VARIOUS BARRIERS PREVENT RESIDENTS
FROM ENGAGING
Resident level Home level
Practical
 Health
 Transport
 Money and networks
 Commitment
 Lack of demand
 Existing interactions
 Staff/resident ratio
 Social facilities
 Nature of residents
 Existing volunteering culture
Cultural/
psychological
 Confidence
 Feeling too old
 Narrow view of volunteering
 Anti-volunteering sentiment
 Staff assuming lack of interest
 Staff not supportive

18. ‘FEELING TOO OLD’ AND HEALTH CONDITIONS
ARE MAJOR BARRIERS FOR RESIDENTS
 Main barriers on resident level related
to health and age
 But also significant:
• lack of confidence
• narrow view of volunteering
• resistance
• practical barriers
Top two barriers
• “I’m not the right age”
• “I have an illness or
disability”

19. SUPPORTING RESIDENTS’ VOLUNTEERING
REQUIRED TIME AND SKILLS
Time varied depending on
 Existing volunteering culture and social
interactions
 Nature of residents
Additional barriers
 Social facilities in the home
 Staff to resident ratio
 Lack of management buy-in
”
It makes me sad I
couldn't do more for them.
Sometimes I feel that they're
let down.
Staff
“

20. SOME HOMES HAVE SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME
BARRIERS
 Continuously encouraging and motivating residents
 Tailoring roles to residents’ needs and providing a great
variety of roles
 Creating networks with the local community
 Pairing up residents with external volunteers
 Raising awareness of volunteering and celebrate it
 Running fundraising events

21. EMOTIONAL
 Fun and enjoyment
 A sense of purpose
 Feeling useful
 Sense of achievement
 Increased confidence
 Reduced feeling of loneliness
 Feeling of belonging
 Building outside connections
 Improved social dynamics
SOCIAL
PHYSICAL
 Distraction from health
conditions
 Keeping fit
 Challenging the brain
 Stimulation
MENTAL
VOLUNTEERING HAD MANY BENEFITS

22. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS WERE
HIGHLIGHTED IN THE INTERVIEWS…
‘To know that
people really appreciate
it, that is what I enjoy.’
‘Seeing the result of your
planting, planting seeds and
then seeing them grow.’
‘You don’t have to be
miserable on your own or be
stuck in your apartment.’

23. …AND ALSO HIGHLY RATED IN THE SURVEY
The top six most important benefits (%)
3.5
3.0
Average
23
30
52
34
37
51
67
61
36
41
35
26
0% 50% 100%
I really enjoy it
I get satisfaction from seeing the results
It gives me a chance to do things I'm good at
It gives me a sense of personal achievement
It gets me 'out of myself'
It makes me feel needed
Not at all important Not very important Fairly important Very important
3.5
3.2
3.1
3.0

24. LINKING VOLUNTEERING TO CHANGES IN
WELLBEING IS DIFFICULT
 Some measures of wellbeing
decreased while others increased
 Most changes not statistically
significant
 Data suggest many factors
involved
6.0 6.3 5.6
Positive Both positive
and negative
Negative
Impact of volunteering on wellbeing
(scale 1-7)
Life event in last six months

25. CONCLUSION
4

26. KEY FINDINGS
 Most volunteering happened inside the home
 Recruitment may have focused too much on engaged residents
 Support was crucial but required time and skills
 Residents faced a number of barriers but there are ways to
overcome them
 Volunteering had clear benefits for residents
 Impact is difficult to measure

27. RECOMMENDATIONS
Adopt a broad view of volunteering and volunteers
Develop tools to help recruit volunteers and enhance the
volunteering experience
Address barriers to volunteering but be realistic about
the levels of involvement

28. RECOMMENDATIONS
Review the role of inspirational volunteers and create
tools to help recruit them
Be realistic regarding the time required for effective
support
Provide centralised support and leadership for growing
resident volunteering
IV

29. Q & A

30. NCVO champions the voluntary sector and
volunteer movement to create a better society.
We connect, represent and support over 13,500
voluntary sector member organisations, from the
smallest community groups to the largest
charities.
This helps our members and their millions of
volunteers make the biggest difference to the
causes they believe in.
• Search for NCVO membership
• Visit www.ncvo.org.uk/join
• Email membership@ncvo.org.uk
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