Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/14629
Title: Burden experienced by community health volunteers in Taiwan: a survey
Contributor(s): Gau, Yueh-Mei (author); Buettner, Petra (author); Usher, Kim  (author)orcid ; Stewart, Lee (author)
Publication Date: 2013
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-491Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/14629
Abstract: Background: Volunteers in Taiwan complement the delivery of health services by paid health professionals. However, in doing so, community health volunteers experience burdens associated with their activities. The reasons for these burdens and degree to which they are experienced are explored in this paper. Our study adds to international research regarding the burden experienced by volunteers. This project is the first to assess how community health volunteers in Taiwan experience burden. Methods: The 20 item Burden on Community Health Volunteer (BCHV) instrument, specifically designed for this project, was administered to 435 volunteers attached to Community Health Promotion Development Centres in northern Taiwan. Results: The overall burden experienced by volunteers is relatively low. However, a multivariate adjusted regression analysis revealed significant differences in volunteer burden depending on the number of people each volunteer served on average per week, as well as the volunteer's marital status and their perceptions about personal health. Volunteers who served many people and who perceived their own health as poor experienced a higher level of burden. Those who were a widow or a widower felt less burdened than others. Conclusions: The results of the study identify areas where burden is high and where strategies can be developed to reduce the level of burden experienced by community health volunteers in Taiwan. Community health volunteers in Taiwan complement the role of nurses and other health care providers so their retention is important to ongoing service delivery.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: BMC Public Health, v.13, p. 1-8
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1471-2458
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified
111708 Health and Community Services
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 420599 Nursing not elsewhere classified
420305 Health and community services
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 920210 Nursing
920202 Carer Health
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200307 Nursing
200399 Provision of health and support services not elsewhere classified
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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