Objectives A recent long-term care insurance policy encourages the promotion of various types of “Kayoi-no-ba,” or places to go, not limited to those focusing on functional training, as resident ...activities are expected to keep older adults from needing care. In this study, Kayoi-no-ba were voluntary groups in which older adults participated, and their attributes were examined in terms of “diversity of participants” and “autonomy of community residents,” based on the type of group.Methods The staff from the preventing long-term care division in each of the 38 municipalities in Tokyo selected 175 voluntary groups that met three criteria: (1) more than three community residents participate in activities at least once a month, (2) participants are primarily older adults or multi-generational residents including older adults, and (3) community residents participate in group management. Representatives from 165 groups responded to the questionnaire. For the group categorization, a latent class analysis was performed using the goals and activities of the group. Participants’ age, gender, and health status were used to assess diversity. The number of residents who managed and/or supported group activities and the precise role the residents played in the activities were used to assess autonomy.Results The groups were categorized into four types: “Physical Exercises,” where the primary activity was physical exercise; “Multi-purpose,” which included various purposes and activities; “Social Interaction Oriented,” where interaction with others was the goal, but physical exercise was not; and “Non-Interaction,” where social interaction was not the goal. Participants in the Multi-purpose group ranged in age and were more likely to have health problems, such as mobility limitations, dementia, and frailty, than those in the Physical Exercises and Social Interaction Oriented groups. Moreover, the Multi-purpose group had more resident managers and supporters involved in various roles.Conclusion The Multi-purpose group had the most diverse participants and autonomy of residents. However, the type of Kayoi-no-ba should not be considered fixed. The support system should encourage flexible changes such as adding a new activity depending on the situation and the varying needs of the residents.
This article sheds light on the scarcely mentioned term 'accidental tourists' which refers to individuals who travel overseas for other purposes than leisure seeking, and actually engage in ...recreational and tourist activities after their arrival at the destination. In this regard, this exploratory study examines the experiences of medical volunteers as accidental tourists who provided primary healthcare assistance to refugees hosted in the Vial refugee camp in Chios Island, Greece, during the European refugee crisis. Primary data were collected with the use of in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. The interview questions focused on medical volunteers' tourist and recreational activities undertaken in Chios Island, as well as on their perceptions of the political aspects of humanitarian aid. The findings of this study indicate that medical professionals as accidental tourists placed emphasis on the stressful working environment, and tourism was merely a welcome side-effect. Additionally, the concept of accidental tourism is further elaborated regarding the theoretical implications of this study. Practical implications as well as policy recommendations for refugees' individual autonomy are also discussed.
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Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between participation in volunteer work and loneliness among older adults, and to explore the mediating role of perceived control and ...perceived social self-efficacy in this association.
Method: This study was developed as a secondary data analysis using the data sampled from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study in USA. The sample comprised 9,944 individuals aged between 65 and 107 years (mean = 75.94, SD = 7.70; 59.4% females). Using a multi-item survey questionnaire, frequent participation in volunteer youth work and charity work, loneliness, perceived control, and social self-efficacy were assessed. To examine the mediating effects of perceived control and social self-efficacy on the association between volunteer work and loneliness, the bootstrapping technique was performed.
Results: Two forms of volunteer works, namely, volunteer youth work and charity work, significantly predicted perceived control, social self-efficacy, and lower levels of loneliness. Perceived control and social self-efficacy appeared to significantly mediate the relationship between volunteer activities and loneliness.
Conclusion: The study's findings put forward a need to develop policy provisions that facilitate supporting systems and organizations for life-long education and recruitment of older volunteers. Community-based organizations should create and promote volunteer opportunities in older adults, thereby alleviating later-life loneliness
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Tim Jones spent eight months working as a digital librarian and archivist at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Cook Islands Campus. He describes the work he did there on the USP's archival ...collections and a forum he organized that brought together people working with Cook Islands collections.
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Samandrag Eit av mange tiltak for å stimulere til meir frivillig arbeid på velferdsfeltet har vore konseptet om frivilligsentralar. Til forskjell frå i andre land har frivilligsentralane i Noreg frå ...oppstarten av vore fokuserte på å drive eigne aktivitetar og tenester med eigne frivillige heller enn å primært vere eit koordinerande bindeledd mellom lokale behov for tenester og frivillige hjelparar. Bindeleddsfunksjonen har likevel vorte vektlagt meir og meir i politiske strategiar for frivilligsentralane opp igjennom åra, der dei er tenkt å ha viktige roller i produksjonen av velferd gjennom samskaping. I lys av dette undersøker vi i denne artikkelen i kva grad bindeleddsfunksjonar og deltaking i samskapingsprosessar er tydelege som del av frivilligsentralane si faktiske verksemd. Ved hjelp av analyser av informasjon frå 335 frivilligsentralar i ei spørjeundersøking frå 2020 finn vi at eigne aktivitetar framleis er dominerande blant frivilligsentralane. Samtidig blir denne verksemda i stor grad kombinert med ein bindeleddsfunksjon lokalt. Undersøkinga vår tyder dermed på at frivilligsentralane har vorte påverka av det store fokuset på samskaping det siste tiåret, og at dei har endra seg mykje i retning av å ta ein større bindeleddsfunksjon. Det står dermed att å sjå om myndigheitene ynskjer å skubbe sentralane enda lenger i denne retninga i framtida.
This article seeks to expand knowledge about spontaneous volunteering in Amsterdam during the European refugee crisis in the winter of 2015–16. As formal institutions, which relied on a top–down ...command and control approach, were unable to handle the relatively large number of refugees who arrived in a short period of time, grassroots social movements based on bottom–up participation emerged. Grassroots volunteers were not only politically engaged, protesting against the strict refugee reception policy, but they also became involved in the crisis response, showing a great deal of flexibility. Although the social movements struggled with their organizational structures, they were able to adapt their missions and structures to changing circumstances. To achieve a resilience‐based response to future refugee influxes, this article advocates for formal response organizations to dismantle their static, top–down approach, and for social movements to find a balance between participation and professionalism. If institutionalized refugee response organizations adapt to the dynamics of local conditions, they could create the conditions for resilient solutions in the crisis context.
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Contemporary volunteering is often considered a neoliberal phenomenon that has become prevalent in an era of post-national sentiments and individualism. Although it is frequently depicted as ...non-political, it may serve the promotion of political agendas, such as neo-nationalism, outside the traditional frame of the state and its institutions. This becomes particularly salient when non-governmental organizations practice volunteering in ways that undermine the state’s monopoly in the realms of security and public order. We conceptualize this tendency as securitized volunteering – instances of volunteering work that is promoted by, in this case non-state, organizations who are involved in voluntary security activities that are violent (or potentially violent). Drawing on an ethnographic study of the Israeli organization HaShomer HaChadash (The New Guard), this article demonstrates how agricultural and security volunteering is used to advance a neo-nationalist agenda that circumvents the state, and at the same time maintains an apolitical stance. This is achieved through the implementation of two corresponding forms of securitized volunteering – civilianization of security volunteerism and securitization of civilian volunteerism. Blurring the distinction between both forms enables the organization to attract supporters and volunteers that come from various social sectors and to reinforce its seemingly apolitical position and nationalist agenda.
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Study recruitment and retention of older adults in research studies is a major challenge. Enhancing understanding of individual differences in motivations to participate, and predictors of ...motivators, can serve the dual aims of facilitating the recruitment and retention of older adults, benefiting study validity, economy, and power.
Older adults (N = 472) past and potential participants were surveyed about motivations to participate in research, demographic, and individual difference measures (e.g., health status, cognitive difficulties). Latent class and clustering analyses explored motivation typologies, followed by regression models predicting individual motivators and typologies.
Older adults endorsed a diversity of research motivations, some of which could be predicted by individual difference measures (e.g., older participants were more motivated by the desire to learn new technology, participants without a college education were more motivated by financial compensation, and participants with greater self-reported cognitive problems were more likely to participate to gain cognitive benefit). Clustering analysis revealed 4 motivation typologies: brain health advocates, research helpers, fun seekers, and multiple motivation enthusiasts. Cognitive difficulties, age, employment status, and previous participation predicted membership in these categories.
Results provide an understanding of different participant motivations beyond differences between younger and older adults and begin to identify different classes of older adults motivated to participate in research studies. Results can provide guidance for targeted recruitment and retention strategies based on individual differences in stated or predicted motivations.
PurposeThe aim of this study is to test for a moderating role of employee participation in volunteering in links between employees' relationships with peers and supervisors, work meaningfulness (WM) ...and affective commitment (AC).Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a survey conducted on a sample of 711 employees, both those involved and those non-involved in corporate volunteering (CV).FindingsThe results suggest that employee participation in CV strengthens the effects that employees' perceptions of positive relationships with peers and perceived supervisor support (PSS) have on employees' AC. Contrary to expectations, although participation in CV strengthens employees' sense of WM, it does not affect its links with other phenomena analyzed in this study.Originality/valueCV is a fast-growing practice in corporate social responsibility. The reasons companies implement CV include the benefits they gain from it, such as positive effects on employee attitudes and behaviors. The paper contributes to the understanding of CV effects on employee attitudes and behaviors and builds a better business case for this CSR practice.
Altruism, Helping, and Volunteering Kahana, Eva; Bhatta, Tirth; Lovegreen, Loren D. ...
Journal of aging and health,
02/2013, Volume:
25, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Objectives: We examined the influence of prosocial orientations including altruism, volunteering, and informal helping on positive and negative well-being outcomes among retirement community dwelling ...elders. Method: We utilize data from 2 waves, 3 years apart, of a panel study of successful aging (N = 585). Psychosocial well-being outcomes measured include life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depressive symptomatology. Results: Ordinal logistic regression results indicate that altruistic attitudes, volunteering, and informal helping behaviors make unique contributions to the maintenance of life satisfaction, positive affect and other well being outcomes considered in this research. Predictors explain variance primarily in the positive indicators of psychological well-being, but are not significantly associated with the negative outcomes. Female gender and functional limitations are also associated with diminished psychological well-being. Discussion: Our findings underscore the value of altruistic attitudes as important additional predictors, along with prosocial behaviors in fostering life satisfaction and positive affect in old age.
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