Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec:66:102605.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102605. Epub 2021 Sep 25.

Enhancing frontline workforce volunteerism through exploration of motivations and impact during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cristelle Chow  1 , Seo Kiat Goh  2 , Choon Seng Gilbert Tan  3 , Hong King Wu  4 , Raveen Shahdadpuri  1
Affiliations

Enhancing frontline workforce volunteerism through exploration of motivations and impact during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cristelle Chow et al. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: During a pandemic, healthcare workers are requested to volunteer for potentially high-risk frontline duties outside of usual hospital and primary care clinic settings in order to better serve vulnerable communities. Examination of volunteer motivations and impact of such experiences can drive more effective pandemic response efforts with regards to volunteer recruitment and retention. This study aims to explore the motivational factors underlying healthcare worker volunteerism in COVID-19 pandemic response operations in the community, and to describe the impact of such operations on volunteers, in order to highlight important volunteer recruitment strategies and ensure volunteer sustainability.

Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach is taken in this study through the use of semi-structured individual interviews of healthcare staff, to provide in-depth exploration of personal experiences. Staff were purposefully sampled to ensure diversity of personal and professional backgrounds.

Results: A total of 35 staff, consisting of 17 males and 18 females from medical, nursing, allied health, and administrative backgrounds, who participated in COVID-19 community-based operations in migrant worker dormitories and swab isolation facilities were interviewed. The main motivational factors were volunteer functions of values, understanding and enhancement. Participants were positively impacted on personal and professional levels, including self-growth, societal awareness, as well as skills development in leadership and team management.

Conclusions: Healthcare organizations should consider volunteer functions in matching individual motivations to volunteer opportunities. Additionally, personal narratives and role-modelling by senior staff can serve as useful adjunct strategies to volunteer recruitment, while providing pre-pandemic preparedness, reassurance of safety, support, and recognition.

Keywords: COVID-19; Qualitative study; Staff motivations and impact; Staff volunteerism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Johns Hopkins university & medicine coronavirus resource center. 2021. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu Retrieved.
    1. Chua Alvin Q., Melisa Mei Jin Tan, Monica Verma, Emeline Kai Lin Han, Li Yang Hsu, Alex Richard Cook, Yik Ying Teo, Vernon J Lee, Helena Legido-Quigley. Health system resilience in managing the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from Singapore. BMJ Global Health. 2020;5 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Government of Singapore Improved standards of new dormitories for migrant workers. 2020. https://www.gov.sg/article/improved-standards-of-new-dormitories-for-mig... June 8, 2020.
    1. Ministry of Health, Singapore 29 more cases discharged, 1426 new cases of COVID-19 infection confirmed. 2020. https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/29-more-cases-discharged-... April 20.
    1. Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in migrant worker dormitories. 2020. https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2020/1214-measures-to-con... April 12.

LinkOut - more resources