This presentation was part of the learn and share events held across the country in March, 2014. The presentation was by Matt Hill, Institute of Volunteering Research and looks at what they have learnt from the research perspective. Find out more about the Volunteering in Care Homes project: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/volunteering/volunteering-in-care-homes Find out more about NCVO's work on volunteering: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering http://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/volunteering/volunteering-in-care-homes

1. Volunteering in Care Homes:
What do we know from a
research perspective?
Matthew Hill
Learn and share events
March 2014

2. • Known knowns
• Known unknowns
• Unknown unknowns

3. Volunteering in Health and Social Care
Source: King’s Fund, 2013

4. Who volunteers?
• Very diverse but some important differences
• Sex – women more likely to be involved in caring roles;
• Age – young people more focused on skills development;
• Region – more in South than North;
• Ethnicity – is not a predictor of volunteering; (DCLG, 2010)
• Different ways of thinking about volunteering;
• There is a ‘civic core’ (Mohan and Bulloch, 2012)
• What about in care homes?

5. The organisation of volunteering within
care homes
Three types of involvement:
• Organisational Volunteers: Using organisations to provide
volunteers
• Home Volunteers: Individual homes recruiting volunteers directly.
• Community Volunteers: Making the home a kind of centre open
to the community where groups can ‘bring life in from the outside’

6. For groups
Exercise/dance classes/ music/ singing/
poetry
Run/assist arts and crafts sessions
Escort outings
Discussion group
For groups or one-to-one:
Reminiscence work
Offer beauty treatments
Bring in a pet
One-to-one:
Drive/accompany people to
dentist, hospital, doctor, shops
Act as advocates (helping people to
articulate, defend or exercise their rights)
Befriending
Other:
Fundraising

7. The impact of volunteering in social care
Time and resources
• Cost saving
• Additional services
The distinctive contribution of volunteers (Metz et al, 2012)
• Equality and closeness to users (Morris et al, 2012)
• Connection with the community (Gay, 2009)
• Skills and experiences (Hill et al, 2013)
• Altruistic dynamic of care (Ronel et al, 2009)

8. Issues within volunteer management 1
• Boundaries (Hill et al, 2013)
• Training and support
• Practical and emotional
• professionalisation and formalisation
• overformalisation? (Howlett 2010; Rochester, 2013)
• in volunteer management

9. Issues within volunteer management 2
• Staff/volunteer relationships
• Clarity of roles
• job substitution (Naylor et al, 2013)
• How is volunteering conceived?
• By the organisation - deliverers, community members...
• By the volunteer – work, philanthropy, care
• Increasing participation (Heatley, 2007)
• numbers
• roles

10. Known unknowns
• Statistics on how many, who and exactly what volunteers do
• Volunteering in the private sector
• Specifics of care homes
• Barriers to involving volunteers
• Volunteer management issues
• Impact of volunteering

11. Browne, J., Jochum, V. & Paylor, J. (2013) The value of giving a little time: Understanding the potential of micro-volunteering
Institute for Volunteering Research
Gay, P. (2009) Review of Volunteering Practice in Care Homes, IVR
Haski-Leventhal, D., L. Hustinx, et al. (2011). "What Money Cannot Buy: The Distinctive and Multidimensional Impact of
Volunteers." Journal of Community Practice 19(2): 138-158.
Hill, M., Ockenden, N., Morris, S. & Payne, P. (2013) ‘The position and power of volunteers within palliative care: A
Bourdieuian analysis’ Paper presented to the NCVO/VSSN Annual Research Conference, Sheffield Hallam University.
Howlett, S. (2010). "Developing volunteer management as a profession." Voluntary Sector Review 1(3): 355-360.
McKee, M., M. L. Kelley, et al. (2009). "It takes a whole community: the contribution of rural hospice volunteers to whole-
person palliative care." Journal of palliative care 26(2): 103-111.
Metz, J., van Baren, E., Roza, L., Meijs, L. and Hoogervorst, N. (2012) ‘The added value of volunteering to youth
development’, ISTR Conference.
Mohan, J. & Bulloch, S. (2012) The idea of a ‘civic core’: what are the overlaps between charitable giving, volunteering, and
civic participation in England and Wales? Third Sector Research Centre Working Paper 73
Morris, S., A. Wilmot, et al. (2013). "A narrative literature review of the contribution of volunteers in end-of-life care services."
Palliative Medicine 27(5): 428-436.
Naylor, C., C. Mundle, et al. (2013). "Volunteering in health and care." King’s Fund
Rochester, C. (2013). Rediscovering Voluntary Action: The Beat of a Different Drum, Palgrave Macmillan.
Ronel, N., D. Haski-Leventhal, et al. (2009). "Perceived Altruism A Neglected Factor in Initial Intervention." International
journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 53(2): 191-210.
Strickland A, Ockenden N (2011). Job Substitution or Volunteer Substitution?. London: Institute for Volunteering Research
and Volunteering England. Available at: www.cypfconsortium.org.uk/UserFiles/File/job_substitution_volunteer_substitution_

12. Unknown unknowns?

13. The evaluation framework
• Aims
• Formative evaluation
• Impact assessment
• Frameworks
• Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit (VIAT)
• SENSES Framework-
security, belonging, continuity, purpose, achievement, significan
ce
• Methods
• Volunteer Investment and Value Audit (VIVA)
• Surveys – staff and volunteers
• Light touch and in-depth case studies –
staff, volunteers, residents and relatives

14. info@ivr.org.uk
0207 520 8900
www.ivr.org.uk
Thank you