Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Kintampo, Ghana.
Department of Sociology, School of Social Science, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2018 Sep 1;7(9):836-846. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2018.38.
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.
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.
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.
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 nonmonetary 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.
在加纳等许多发展中国家，社区志愿者协助为农村和偏远社区提供某些卫生服务。本研究考察了影响在加纳社区一级支持与健康相关活动的社区志愿者的动机和保留因素。
使用顺序混合方法设计，于 2014 年 12 月至 2015 年 2 月在加纳的金塔蓬北市（KNM）和金塔蓬南地区（KSD）对 205 名选定的社区志愿者进行了横断面调查。进行了定性访谈，包括对卫生工作者和社区意见领袖的 12 次深入访谈（IDIs）和与志愿者的 2 次焦点小组讨论（FGD）。
个人兴趣（32.7％）和社区领导人对志愿者的选择（30.2％）是最初自愿的主要原因。金钱激励措施，如额外工作津贴（88.8％）和每日津贴（49.3％）以及非金钱激励措施，如 T 恤/包（45.4％），培训期间的食物（52.7％），社区认可，社会声望和在卫生设施中的优惠待遇是志愿者保留的促进因素。有微弱的证据（P=.051）表明，每日津贴是志愿者满意的原因。
社区志愿者的动机和保留受到他们在社区成员和卫生工作者认可形式中的个人兴趣，社区领导人的选择和其他非金钱激励因素的影响。志愿者因额外工作津贴而受到激励，但不接受住宿和旅行时的每日津贴。鼓励参与社区志愿者的组织与社区领导人合作加强志愿者的选拔，并提供非金钱和金钱激励措施来激励志愿者。
