News

Earlier this year, Macquarie University student James MacDonald joined us as an intern to conduct some research. We were seeking to understand how palliative care volunteer services were recovering from the significant downturn in service in 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Some highlights from the findings are:

• Since 2022, 15% of palliative care volunteer services have either closed permanently or have not resumed operations.
• There are now 38 volunteer services currently operating in NSW.
• Almost half of these services have not yet returned to their pre-covid capacity and 35% were still operating with restrictions.
• Nearly a third of the volunteer workforce was still inactive.
• There are 1049 active volunteers. The number of active volunteers has increased by 40% since 2022.
• These volunteers have contributed 66 495 volunteer hours. This number is up 331% since 2022.

We asked what the biggest barriers were to the resumption of service. There were three:

• The risk of infection and changing landscape of policy directives – As alert levels fluctuated, so did service restrictions. Risks were managed inconsistently, and there was some confusion as to whether volunteers should be considered health workers or visitors. This distinction meant they were subject to different restrictions. Some services were reluctant to reintroduce volunteers even after restrictions had eased for visitors.
• High staff turnover – Clinicians were seconded to other duties, many volunteer managers resigned. All this turnover disrupted referral pathways. Services rely on referrals – without them there is no service.
• A significant drop in the number of available volunteers – Half of the volunteer workforce had left leaving services depleted and unable to resume service at previous levels once restrictions eased. When a volunteer leaves, they take with them all the knowledge and expertise they have built up over their time with the service. Recruiting a new volunteer does not compensate for the loss of an experienced one.

The good news is things are looking up.

• 82% of Volunteer Managers reported they were feeling optimistic about the future of their service.
• 80% plan to recruit new cohorts of volunteers in the next 12 months. This will significantly boost capacity and begin the process of returning to pre-pandemic numbers.
• 40% have plans to grow their service by expanding volunteer activities.
• There is much work to be done promoting services with referral partners, GPs, and the community to re-establish referral pathways and create new ones.

Even though sentiment is positive there are still challenges to be overcome when imagining how to meet the needs of future clients.

• Recruitment – Recruitment is a high priority, but it is not an easy process. It is time consuming and involves a marked increase in administrative workload as new volunteers progress through the stages of recruitment, onboarding, and training. And it’s not just about finding more volunteers – it’s about finding the right kind of volunteers to fill the gaps and meet the needs of their community. Volunteer cohorts must be diverse and reflect the demographics of the clients they support, including factors such as culture, age, gender, and language.
• Promotion – Health professionals need to be educated about how volunteer support can benefit clients and their families, so they feel confident to refer. Members of the community and potential clients also need to understand this, so they take up offers of support and boost engagement.
• Referrals – Referral pathways will need repairing. New staff need to be educated on how and when to make an appropriate referral.
• Leadership – 21% of volunteer managers reported they did not have enough time to adequately manage their workload. Well supported and resourced volunteer managers are best placed to tackle these challenges.

The full research report, Tracking the post-COVID recovery of palliative care volunteer services in NSW, has just been published on the VolunteerHub and is available to download here.

To view the executive summary infographic please click here.