Institute for Palliative Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
African Palliative Care Association, Kampala, Uganda.
BMC Palliat Care. 2020 Apr 14;19(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s12904-020-00545-w.
Volunteers play a significant role in supporting hospice and palliative care in Africa, but little is known about the types of volunteers, their motivations and roles in service delivery.
Palliative care experts from 30 African countries were invited to participate in an online survey, conducted in English and French, that consisted of 58 questions on: socio-demographics, the activities, motivation and coordination of volunteers, and an appraisal of recent developments in volunteering. The questionnaire was pre-tested in Uganda. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively with SPSS v22; answers on open-ended questions were analysed using content analysis.
Twenty-five respondents from 21 countries replied to the questionnaire. The typical volunteer was reported to be a female aged between 30 and 50 years. Volunteer roles included, among others: direct patient assistance, providing psychosocial / spiritual support, and assisting patients' families. Respondents considered altruism, civic engagement and personal gain (for a professional career) as volunteers' most significant motivational drivers. One in two respondents noted that recruiting volunteers is easy, and cooperation with the communities was often mentioned as helpful. Trainings mostly occurred before the first assignment, with topics covering the palliative care concept, care, psychosocial support and team work. Half of respondents described recent overall volunteering developments as positive, while the other half described problems primarily with financing and motivation. Most volunteers received transportation allowances or bicycles; some received monetary compensation.
The findings show a wide range of volunteering in palliative care. We identified volunteers as typically 30-50 years old, non-professional females, motivated by altruism, a sense of civic engagement and personal gain. Palliative care services benefit from volunteers who take on high workloads and are close to the patients. The main challenges for volunteer programmes are funding and the long-term motivation of volunteers.
志愿者在支持非洲的临终关怀和姑息治疗方面发挥着重要作用，但人们对志愿者的类型、他们在服务提供中的动机和角色知之甚少。
邀请来自 30 个非洲国家的姑息治疗专家参加一项在线调查，该调查使用英语和法语进行，共包含 58 个问题，涉及：社会人口统计学、志愿者的活动、动机和协调，以及对志愿服务最新发展的评估。问卷在乌干达进行了预测试。使用 SPSS v22 对定量数据进行描述性分析；对开放式问题的回答使用内容分析法进行分析。
来自 21 个国家的 25 名受访者回答了问卷。报告称，典型的志愿者是年龄在 30 至 50 岁之间的女性。志愿者的角色包括：直接为患者提供帮助、提供心理社会/精神支持、协助患者家属等。受访者认为利他主义、公民参与和个人收益（职业发展）是志愿者最重要的激励因素。每两个受访者中就有一个人表示招募志愿者很容易，而且经常提到与社区合作很有帮助。培训大多在第一次任务之前进行，培训内容涵盖姑息治疗概念、护理、心理社会支持和团队合作。一半的受访者表示最近的志愿服务总体发展是积极的，而另一半受访者表示主要存在资金和动机方面的问题。大多数志愿者获得交通津贴或自行车；一些人获得了金钱补偿。
调查结果显示姑息治疗领域的志愿服务范围广泛。我们发现志愿者通常是 30-50 岁的非专业女性，他们的动机是利他主义、公民参与感和个人收益。志愿者承担着繁重的工作量，并且与患者关系密切，这使姑息治疗服务受益。志愿者计划面临的主要挑战是资金和志愿者的长期激励。
