Cargando…
Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer
Volunteers in non-government organisations are increasingly providing mental health support due to increasing demand and in the context of overstretched publicly-funded mental health services. This descriptive, cross-sectional study explored a knowledge gap in the literature of mental health telepho...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2018
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6210510/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30261682 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102123 |
_version_ | 1783367131776155648 |
---|---|
author | Sundram, Frederick Corattur, Thanikknath Dong, Christine Zhong, Kelly |
author_facet | Sundram, Frederick Corattur, Thanikknath Dong, Christine Zhong, Kelly |
author_sort | Sundram, Frederick |
collection | PubMed |
description | Volunteers in non-government organisations are increasingly providing mental health support due to increasing demand and in the context of overstretched publicly-funded mental health services. This descriptive, cross-sectional study explored a knowledge gap in the literature of mental health telephone counselling by examining the motivation and retention determinants of helpline volunteers. In total, 25 participants were recruited across four focus groups and five individual interviews from a non-government organisation which provides a national phone counselling service to callers in New Zealand. Interviews were electronically recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Volunteers were found to have a high regard for their role and enjoyed many aspects including initial training, ongoing supports (formal/informal) and nature of the phone calls. However, organisational priorities/communication, disconnectedness, technological issues, lack of recognition and lack of a sense of belonging were reasons cited for intention to leave but previous mental health experiences, autonomy/flexibility, self-discovery/skills development and being there for someone else were key factors for volunteers to start and remain in their role. Understanding these crucial factors may help modulate volunteer satisfaction and retention in mental health organisations but may also potentially be relevant to other types of volunteer organisations. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6210510 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-62105102018-11-02 Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer Sundram, Frederick Corattur, Thanikknath Dong, Christine Zhong, Kelly Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Volunteers in non-government organisations are increasingly providing mental health support due to increasing demand and in the context of overstretched publicly-funded mental health services. This descriptive, cross-sectional study explored a knowledge gap in the literature of mental health telephone counselling by examining the motivation and retention determinants of helpline volunteers. In total, 25 participants were recruited across four focus groups and five individual interviews from a non-government organisation which provides a national phone counselling service to callers in New Zealand. Interviews were electronically recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Volunteers were found to have a high regard for their role and enjoyed many aspects including initial training, ongoing supports (formal/informal) and nature of the phone calls. However, organisational priorities/communication, disconnectedness, technological issues, lack of recognition and lack of a sense of belonging were reasons cited for intention to leave but previous mental health experiences, autonomy/flexibility, self-discovery/skills development and being there for someone else were key factors for volunteers to start and remain in their role. Understanding these crucial factors may help modulate volunteer satisfaction and retention in mental health organisations but may also potentially be relevant to other types of volunteer organisations. MDPI 2018-09-27 2018-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6210510/ /pubmed/30261682 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102123 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Sundram, Frederick Corattur, Thanikknath Dong, Christine Zhong, Kelly Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title | Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title_full | Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title_fullStr | Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title_full_unstemmed | Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title_short | Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer |
title_sort | motivations, expectations and experiences in being a mental health helplines volunteer |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6210510/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30261682 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102123 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT sundramfrederick motivationsexpectationsandexperiencesinbeingamentalhealthhelplinesvolunteer AT coratturthanikknath motivationsexpectationsandexperiencesinbeingamentalhealthhelplinesvolunteer AT dongchristine motivationsexpectationsandexperiencesinbeingamentalhealthhelplinesvolunteer AT zhongkelly motivationsexpectationsandexperiencesinbeingamentalhealthhelplinesvolunteer |