Volunteering in the care of people with severe mental illness: a systematic review

BMC Psychiatry

Stefan Priebe¹  Christoph Lauber³  Günter Klug²  Claudia Hallett¹ 

[1] Academic Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts & the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Newham Centre for Mental Health, London E13 8SP, UK;Psychosocial Services, Society of Mental Health Promotion, PSD Graz East, Hasnerplatz 4, Graz, A-8010, Austria;Department of Psychiatry, University of Liverpool, 2nd Floor Block B, Waterhouse Building, 1-5 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GL, UK

关键词: Social support;    Severe mental illness (SMI);    Volunteering;   

Others  :  1124206
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-12-226

 received in 2012-08-09, accepted in 2012-12-11,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Much of the literature to date concerning public attitudes towards people with severe mental illness (SMI) has focused on negative stereotypes and discriminatory behaviour. However, there also exists a tradition of volunteering with these people, implying a more positive attitude. Groups with positive attitudes and behaviours towards people with SMI have received relatively little attention in research. They merit further attention, as evidence on characteristics and experiences of volunteers may help to promote volunteering. The present paper aims to systematically review the literature reporting characteristics, motivations, experiences, and benefits of volunteers in the care of people with SMI.

Methods

In November 2010, a systematic electronic search was carried out in BNI, CINAHL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Cochrane Registers and Web of Science databases, using a combination of ‘volunteer’, ‘mental health’ and ‘outcome’ search terms. A secondary hand search was performed in relevant psychiatric journals, grey literature and references.

Results

14 papers met the inclusion criteria for the review, with data on a total of 540 volunteers. The results suggest that volunteers are a mostly female, but otherwise heterogeneous group. Motivations for volunteering are a combination of what they can ‘give’ to others and what they can ‘get’ for themselves. Overall volunteers report positive experiences. The main benefit to persons with a psychiatric illness is the gaining of a companion, who is non-stigmatizing and proactive in increasing their social-community involvement.

Conclusions

The evidence base for volunteers in care of people with SMI is small and inconsistent. However there are potential implications for both current and future volunteering programmes from the data. As the data suggests that there is no ‘typical’ volunteer, volunteering programmes should recruit individuals from a variety of backgrounds. The act of volunteering can not only benefit people with SMI, but also the volunteers. Further research may specify methods of recruiting, training, supervising and using volunteers to maximise the benefit for all involved.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Hallett et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.