Volunteer service motivations in eldercare : an explorative study of meaningful inputs from existing volunteers, with the purpose of devising strategies for increased volunteer participation in Singapore

• Main Author: Lim, Russell Fang Yu
• Other Authors: Sam Han
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66173
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Singapore government is known for its stance against welfare state policies. It calls on Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWO) and individuals, to step up and provide necessary social services. Attention is placed on Eldercare VWOs, where the nation’s aging population situation has given rise to concerns over its ability to cope with increased demand. On the other hand, there is a sense that volunteer participation, can be much improved; with active volunteers still in the minority. This paper draws on past works, such as “Functional Approach in Volunteering” and “Public Service Motivation” theory (in the fields of Psychology and Public Administration respectively), and synthesizes it with Symbolic Interactionists (Sociology) perspectives. Participant observation and in-depth interview methods were used, to attain rich and meaningful accounts of the volunteering experience, and on the individual volunteers’ motivations. The paper concludes by discussing various strategies on improving volunteering participation, based on the inputs gathered.