A HELPING HAND:

Why we need to harness public interest in volunteering

providing vital, responsive services which support public health, social care and wellbeing.

No need has been greater since wartime than the COVID-19 pandemic and Royal Voluntary Service has been the largest single mobiliser of volunteers to support the COVID response.

Volunteers will play an important role in the COVID recovery and beyond and we will continue to support people and communities in need, particularly where there are health inequalities and social deprivation.

Volunteering in social care is not new. The benefits of volunteering in this sector are well documented; previous research literature has found benefits to staff in terms of morale and job satisfaction, residents in terms of higher wellbeing, plus their families in terms of greater satisfaction with the quality of care that their loved ones receive. For volunteers, > benefits include skills development, confidence building and employability.

Public attitudes

In December 2022 Royal Voluntary Service published a report – in partnership with Anchor and the University of Kent – looking at the public appetite to volunteer in care (i.e. care homes) and front-line staff attitudes to volunteers in the workplace. Both sets of survey findings are incredibly positive and uplifting. In short, the findings reveal significant public interest in volunteering in care homes (and possibly wider social care) and staff overwhelmingly want to see more volunteers in care because they see not only benefits to residents/clients but to themselves and their colleagues. This ultimately begs the question: ‘why are we not doing more to encourage volunteering in this sector?' Let me share with you a few of the highlights.

We surveyed just over 2,000 UK adults (July 2022) about their attitudes to volunteering in social care – specifically, care homes. Interestingly, 6% said they were currently volunteering in care, 5% said they are ‘planning to’ and 38% said they ‘would consider it’. Those aged 18-24 years were the most interested in volunteering in care homes

13% stated they were currently volunteering, 9% stated they are planning to and 52% would consider volunteering.

The motivation to volunteer in care homes also provided some interesting insight; 38% stated they were motivated to volunteer because they know ‘care home staff are under pressure and would like to support them’ and, similarly, 38% ‘wanted to help improve/add to the quality of care’. One in three said they were motivated to volunteer because they had ‘talents/skills that could be of use’, suggesting care homes could benefit from additional skills that volunteers bring with them. And others, particularly younger people, were motivated by career interests. With regards to young people seeking to volunteer in care, 18% of those aged 18-24 years were motivated to volunteer because they were interested in a career in care, versus 12% of the total sample surveyed. This is highly encouraging and relevant for those with an interest in workforce planning and recruitment.

The public appear most interested in volunteer roles which are resident facing; almost 60% are interested in roles which provide social and emotional support to residents one to one, 47% are interested in helping at mealtimes (for example, encouraging residents to eat and drink) and 42% would be happy to run group activities (for example, gentle exercises, activity classes, music groups). Such activities could go a significant way to improving the emotional wellbeing and resilience of residents and physical health outcomes (for example, by reducing dehydration, malnutrition, cognitive decline, and muscle wastage).

Provider perceptions

We surveyed 100 (October 2022) Anchor care home staff (front-line clinical, non-clinical and managers) on their experience and views of working with volunteers. The majority surveyed (67%) were currently working with volunteers and 33% are not currently working with volunteers.

Of those who are not currently working with volunteers (33%), 90% would like to see more volunteers in care and they would like volunteers to help with tasks such as: companionship (100%), mealtime support (91%) and leading on social activities for residents (88%).

Of those who are currently working with volunteers (67%), 98% stated they ‘enjoy working with volunteers’. Staff said that the types of support volunteers provided were predominately around companionship roles (86%) and social activities (68%) rather than mealtime support (35%) or helping to mobilise residents (13%) (for example, getting dressed/ helping with mobility around the care home). Overwhelmingly, care home staff felt that volunteers add ‘a lot of value’ for residents (94%) and for staff (85%).

The survey also asked staff what they thought ‘volunteers contributed to’; the top three responses were: ‘Providing essential reassurance and company to residents’ (67%), ‘Reducing pressure on colleagues’ (50%), ‘Freeing up colleagues’ time to spend on care tasks’ (49%). Staff not only see the benefits of volunteers for residents (for example, reassurance and company); but for themselves and their colleagues in terms of delivering better care and reducing workload pressures.

The survey also aimed to gather insight on what could be done to ‘strengthen the impact of volunteering in care homes’. Staff suggested:

• 82% ‘Better knowledge amongst colleagues about the role of volunteers’.

• 75% ‘Greater knowledge amongst the public on volunteer opportunities in care homes’.

• 69% ‘More or better training for volunteers’.

Thinking differently

We owe those working in social care and those living in care more support. The impact of the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis on the care sector should provide us with the impetus to be bold, innovative and challenge ourselves to think differently about how we better support those working in care and those needing support. The current policy discourse on social care is principally focused on funding and workforce – of which both are critically important and need to be resolved. However, we need to think about the type and quality of care that staff aspire to deliver and those in receipt of care want. This should have equal focus when discussing reforms to social care.

The findings of this report reveal the enormous public interest and willingness to support this sector – but we need to harness this. Royal Voluntary Service wants to partner with care home providers and others with an interest in this area to grow volunteering in care, given the numerous benefits of a welldesigned and run volunteer programme. If you wish to talk with us about the findings of this report and/or are interested in developing a volunteer programme together, please get in contact by emailing, allison.smith@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk

Royal Voluntary Service also delivers the Volunteer Responders programme, which was established during the pandemic, and will soon be introducing a range of new and refreshed services. The programme will provide a resilient pool of volunteers to support health and care and the ability to respond to future emergencies. To be kept up to date as the programme enters this new phase, please get in contact. CMM