De frivilliges styrke i omsorgsarbejdet

This article is concerned with volunteers’ involvement in the delivery of care to the old, the very sick and the dying. Focussing on the voices of those involved in care work, the aim of this chapter is to explore the question “what are volunteers particularly good at in care work?” Data has been collected through a total of 65 interviews with management, staff and volunteers in a number of Australian and Danish human service organisations. Participants see that volunteers are particularly good caregivers when volunteers participate in job functions where they can utilise the three factors time, humanity and experience. They further see that those jobs provide a sense of purpose to volunteers’ engagement. The article’s author gives a number of examples where organisations have used the special strength of volunteers to enhance the organisation’s quality of care. The findings are thus of relevance to organisations which use or are planning to use volunteer in care work.