NYSADVS News...
The Rewards of Volunteering
Date Posted:
5/11/2012
Doing good for others has mental and physical health benefits, researchers say. (by Valerine Ulene)
Behaving altruistically not only feels good, a growing body of research suggests, it actually improves a person's physical and psychological health. "One of the best things we can do for our health is to learn to be more caring and compassionate," says Stephen Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University in New York.
The effects of altruistic behavior on mental health have been fairly well documented. "Happiness is a byproduct of living generously," Post says.
A study published last year in the journal Science examined the relationship between philanthropy and well-being. Researchers analyzed the spending patterns of more than 600 men and women and questioned them about their general happiness. Money used to pay bills or buy things for themselves was considered "personal spending"; gifts for others and donations to charities were categorized as "pro-social spending." Personal spending was found to be unrelated to happiness, whereas pro-social spending was directly correlated to it.
Volunteering has also been shown to have a positive effect on people's mental state, particularly as they age. Volunteerism serves as a way to keep older adults active in the community and prevents them from becoming socially isolated. It's thought that volunteerism also enhances older adults' sense of belonging, increases their sense of purpose and improves their perception of their own self-competence.
Teens aren't immune to the mood-enhancing effects of altruistic behavior. A study published in the Journal of Research in Personality in 2008 showed that students who engage in virtue-building activities such as volunteering report being happier than their more hedonistic counterparts. Pleasure-seeking behavior, such as drinking alcohol, had no effect on happiness whatsoever.
Longevity factor
The positive effects of giving behavior appear to extend beyond a person's state of mind to their physical health. "People that help others live longer than those who don't," says Stephanie Brown, assistant professor of general medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a faculty associate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
The specific mechanisms by which altruistic behavior translates into better health are not yet well understood. Experts such as Brown and Post speculate that acting in a warm, compassionate way affects certain hormones and chemicals in the body.
"There's a growing body of evidence showing that compassionate care and helping activities elevate levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine," says Stony Brook's Post, who wrote "Good Things Happen to Good People." "They also impact the release of endorphins, the body's natural opiates, resulting in what has been widely documented as the 'helper's high.' "
Compassionate activities are associated with elevated levels of oxytocin, a hormone that triggers a number of favorable physiological changes throughout the body. Higher levels of oxytocin, for example, are associated with a reduction in the levels of certain stress hormones that cause undue wear and tear on the body. "Acts of kindness always move us away from hostile and angry emotions that are clearly connected with elevated stress and higher mortality over the years," Post says.
It's also still unclear whether one form of altruism is more health-enhancing than another. Giving money may be just as beneficial as donating time; providing emotional support might be just as advantageous as helping in a more hands-on ways.
Altruism -- in any form -- doesn't come naturally to everyone. Some individuals are clearly more inclined to reach out and involve themselves in charitable activities. Research suggests that the proclivity may be, at least in part, genetic. Perhaps more important is a person's social environment, particularly when growing up.
Submitted by Western Chapter
|
Emergency Rom Patient Advocate Volunteer
Date Posted:
5/11/2012
Kenmore Mercy Hospital is launching a new volunteer program. These volunteers will be called Emergency Room Patient Advocate Volunteers. Their duty is to provide a patient focused model attending to the non-clinical needs of patients and their accompanying caregivers and the Emergency Department medical staff. Their role will be to provide immediate personal support and attention to the patients, their families and their visitors and serve as a communication liaison between the patients and hospital staff. In particular, these volunteers assist, represent and/or intervene on behalf of the patient in order to help enhance the patient's perceived satisfaction and quality of care. Ensure that patient rights are protected and honored.
MAJOR TASKS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Friendly interface with patients who are communicative and whose symptoms are stabilized.
2. Friendly interface with supporting family, friends and caregivers for patients who are not communicative.
3. Personal discussions/informal counseling.
4. Assistance with making the patients feel comfortable, reassured and safe.
5. Patient Assistant, i.e. make phone calls, communicate with family members.
6. Staff Liaison. May assist the medical and care management staff by following up on patient inquiries, test results, allowance of food and/or water and anticipated length of stay. May help with completing patient forms and paperwork.
7. Act as a liaison between the patient and the medical staff to help resolve any issues.
8. Maintain a non-judgmental posture during interaction.
9. Must not promote his/her own political/religious views nor question any observations, beliefs or perceptions held by patients and staff regarding the type of care they have received.
10. Must not provide any hands-on service to the patients.
11. May visit patients who are transferred to Inpatient Units from the Emergency Room, visit patients during their hospitalization, and follow up after discharge.
12. Confidentiality strictly maintained.
The staff is excited and looking forward to this new program. Not only will it be an asset to the patients and their families, but it will increase patient satisfaction.
Submitted by Lynn Overbeck, DVS (Western Chapter)
|
Social Media and Healthcare Volunteer Departments: Adopters or Laggards
Date Posted:
2/15/2012
Submitted by Doug Della Pietra
(Rochester Chapter)
The following is a summary version of a 12-page and more in-depth study. If you would like a copy of the full version, please email the author at douglas.dellapietra@rochestergeneral.org.
Everett M. Rogers proposes in his Diffusions of Innovation theory that adoption of innovations occurs in a bell-shaped curve. Rogers suggests that the inventor/innovator creates a product, concept, service, practice, etc. that is initially embraced by a few ("early adopters") and that grows in acceptance through an "“early majority" before being more fully accepted when the "late majority" and "laggards" finally adopt the innovation/invention - possibly years and even decades later, if ever.
Social media is such an innovation; it is a new way for people to connect and interact with one another. Social media redefines the parameters of social interaction and expands the traditional methods of in-person and telephone exchanges to "virtual" and online communication. Email, instant messaging, blogs, video content posted to a website, online discussion groups, chat rooms, professional/personal networking through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and the sharing of photos and/or real-time audio-visual encounters are more and more the societal norm.
Recently, a survey of healthcare volunteer administrators was conducted on the topic of social media use in volunteer departments. One hundred sixty-three (163) individuals in all completed the survey.
Healthcare volunteer departments currently use social media sites to the following degree:
* 57.7% of the represented healthcare volunteer departments currently take advantage of a website to provide program information and resources to their current and prospective volunteer population.
* More than 4 out of 10 healthcare volunteer departments still do not have a presence on the Internet.
* Almost 25% of healthcare volunteer departments have a Facebook profile and fan page.
* 5% or less currently uses other popular social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr or Blogs.
In contrast to social media use by healthcare volunteer departments, healthcare facilities utilize social networking sites to the following degree:
* 93.9% host a website that is available to the public.
* Almost 75% have a Facebook fan page, which is more than 50% greater than that of their volunteer department counterparts.
* 40.5% are now on Twitter
* 31.3% on YouTube
* LinkedIn and blogging are currently at 19.6% and 15.3%, respectively.
The data collected for this study suggests that beyond email and providing information and resources by website, other social media use is lagging behind the curve in the field of healthcare volunteer management when compared to their organizations use of social media. Before continuing, it is very important to note that the attitudes and beliefs that a significant majority of healthcare volunteer administrators hold about the importance of social media use in their field have almost progressed to the "late majority" region in Rogers' Innovation Adoption Curve. Therefore, we conclude that the lag in social media use in healthcare volunteer management is not due an internal barrier, namely, the attitudes and perceptions about social media use on the part of volunteer administrators. Instead, external barriers are the major culprit preventing the advance of social media use among healthcare volunteer administrators.
The first and most prevalent external obstacle facing volunteer administrators is the corporate policies within their organizations that restrict and even prohibit them from accessing and setting up social media sites separate from those of the facility. Many respondents (45.4%) expressed a desire to utilize social media beyond email and a website/webpage but feel stymied by their organization's policies surrounding which departments can and cannot access and utilize such tools on behalf of the organization.
Other key reasons in weighted order are
* Lack of staff time/resources/know-how to create, monitor and maintain (17.5%)
* Age and skill level and/or lack of interest on part of current volunteers (8.2%)
* Effective recruitment/enough volunteers without using other social media (7.2%)
* Social Media is too new (6.2%)
The study provides several detailed recommendations and some how-to's to address the barriers and issues affecting the wider use of social media and networking sites by healthcare volunteer departments:
1. Foster a collaborative partnership with those officially designated individuals and departments within your organization to build the business case regarding the importance of social media and networking specific to the volunteer department for its volunteers.
2. Increase healthcare volunteer administrator knowledge and familiarity through workshops, webinars, and other educational tools and publications that offer administrators the opportunity to learn about social media best practices and the process of getting started and effectively monitoring, managing, and guiding others that have the technological know-how, interest and time to maintain the volunteer program"s social media presence seems like a fundamental place to start.\
3. Address realities and myths surrounding security and privacy concerns.
4. Create a Social Media Plan that is practical and implementable.
In conclusion, the field of healthcare volunteer management is only in the early stages of adopting the use of social media to connect and interact with their current and prospective volunteers. The evidence shows that the field is significantly lagging behind their organizations and the use of social media sites and tools.
Ultimately, social media has become an integral part of the societal fabric and normal experience for the majority. Even healthcare institutions traditionally known for their slow adoption of societal trends have crossed over to regular social media use and engagement. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before volunteer administrators will need the familiarity and knowledge to effectively monitor and manage their department's involvement in more social media tools than email and their hospital's website.
Individuals that begin now to locate the available resources in the community and increase their knowledge and familiarity with the growing number of social media sites and their uses can prepare themselves to competently guide their volunteer programs into the inevitable interface with social media and its adoption in the months and years to come.
_______________________
About the Author
Doug Della Pietra has been involved in volunteer management for over 15 years. In his current position as Director, Customer Services and Volunteers at Rochester General Hospital, Doug not only leads the strategic management of the volunteer program but also heads several organizational initiatives to improve the patient experience, including patient and family member first and last impressions.
Doug is the president of the Rochester Chapter of NYSADVS and a member of AHVRP' Community Relations and ListServ and DVS Toolkit committees. He can be reached at dougdellapietra@gmail.com.
|
Patient Discharge Transports by Volunteers In Hospitals Across the U.S.
Date Posted:
2/15/2012
By Doug Della Pietra (Rochester Chapter)
How does your hospital"s volunteer program compare? Does your volunteer program place volunteers in a primary role of responsibility for providing patient discharge transports? Why or why not?
Through the expansive reach and the effective rate of response of members through the AHVRP ListServ, we were able to learn more about the current trends at hospitals across the nation when it comes to patient discharge transports by volunteers. The specific questions of the January 5th ListServ inquiry were the following:
* How many beds is your hospital?
* How many total patient discharges per year?
* What percentage of that total is done by volunteers at your hospital?
A total of twenty-seven (27) hospitals responded (before data was analyzed). (Several other hospital volunteer administrators have responded since.)
* Eleven (11) - or almost 41% - of respondents were from New York State hospitals.
* The next closest state with the most responses was North Carolina - a total of four (4) or 15%.
According to the responses received, 1 out of every 5 U.S. hospitals utilize volunteers to provide more than two-thirds of the patient discharge transports at those hospitals while seven out of ten (70.3%) involve volunteers in less than 20% of the total patient discharge transports. Interestingly, 40% of respondent hospitals do not place volunteers in the function of providing patient discharge transports at all - primarily because these hospitals either have a paid transport team function in this capacity or have grave liability concerns.
Nearly 90% of respondent hospitals are at one extreme or the other of the spectrum when it comes to using volunteers in the function of providing patient discharge transports. Either a hospital utilizes volunteers to provide the great majority of such transports or not at all. There appears to be no middle ground when it comes to utilizing volunteers for patient discharge transports. With that said, I conclude this article as I started by asking, "How does your hospital's volunteer program compare?" "Does your volunteer program place volunteers in a primary role of responsibility for providing patient discharge transports? Why or why not?" The key, in my opinion, is that the volunteer program's efforts are aligned with the organization's goals and initiatives.
|
More NYSADVS News...
|
What's Happening
Social Media Presentation
Social Media Defined, Best practices for administrators of volunteers
Learn more...
|
NYSADVS Professional Development Conference
2012 - Rochester
2013 - Capital
2014 - Western
2015 - GNY
2016 - Central
2017 - Capital
2018 - Mid-State
2019 - Long Island
2020 - Rochester
|
Palliative Care Workshop
Powerpoint Presentation for Palliative Care Workshop
Learn more...
|
National Volunteer Week
2012 - April 15 - April 21
2013- April 21- April 27
|
Conference Sponsors:
Myers Mermel, NYC, FRIEND
|