Voluntary workers in AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs)

Key take-home messages

• Motivation to volunteer for an ASO can be potentially attributed to many diverse factors and can be different based on the types of services offered by the agency and by identity factors such as race/ethnicity, cultural tradition, gender, sexual orientation and spirituality. Some key motivating factors include a general sense of altruism, a desire to better understand the epidemic, personal development, concern for the community and, sometimes, faith-based values.
• Key to retaining effective volunteers is the organization’s ability to recognize and understand the needs of their volunteers. Particularly salient are the need to feel effective and the need to be engaged with the agency and consulted in decision making.
• Burnout and dropout are often traced back to ineffective/insufficient training, ambiguity in role, emotional stress and organizational level factors such as lack of support.
• Paying particular attention to the stresses placed on a volunteer is advocated in numerous studies, from the initial engagement through placement to termination.

• Population(s)
  • Other