The relationship between reasons for hospital volunteering and certain status characteristics

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between reasons for volunteering given by samples of volunteers in selected metropolitan Washington, D.C. hospitals and five status characteristics (gender, age, employment status, family income and career development stage) as determined through the Volunteer Questionnaire, and to draw implications from the findings regarding the enhancement of recruitment and retention of hospital volunteers. Data were collected through the Volunteer Questionnaire, a self-report type instrument developed by the researcher. The instrument asks respondents to describe themselves according to eleven status characteristics and to indicate the reasons as well as the predominant orientation of the reasons that contributed to their decision to volunteer in a hospital. Four hundred sixty-eight persons provided data for this study during a two week period in October 1987. Five hypotheses were tested, each of which postulated a significant relationship between predominant orientation of reasons for volunteering and a specific status characteristic. Significance was determined at the.05 level. A significant relationship was found between the predominant orientation of reasons the study sample reported for volunteering to do hospital work and each of the status characteristics, age, employment and stage of career development. Persons older than 46 years reported volunteering for "Charitable" reasons (e.g., helping other people, repaying a kindness) more so than their younger counterparts. Part-time workers when compared with full-time workers, homemakers, students and retirees reported volunteering for "Career-related" reasons (e.g., exploring career options, making professional contacts) more frequently. In terms of Donald Super's stages of career development, those individuals who were "exploring career alternatives," "establishing careers" or "maintaining personal, professional, and community interests" reported volunteering for "Personal" reasons (e.g., to meet new people, avoid loneliness and receive recognition) more often than persons who were "approaching retirement or, already retired." Overall, the most frequently reported reasons for volunteering were "to do something useful" and "to be of service to others.". Findings of the study seem to support the conclusion that one's age, employment status and career development stage are predictive of one's reasons for volunteering for hospital work. Study findings suggest that hospital volunteer recruitment should be tailored with these status characteristics in mind.