Community Health Volunteer's Training Manual - Population Council

Module 3 The Work of the Health Committee
176
drop out. If we value the work that volunteers do, how can we motivate them to continue to
give of their best? The next exercise will help us to think through some of the things that we
can do to motivate volunteers.
Exercise 3.4.2
Objective
1. To discuss the various ways of
motivating volunteers
Time: 15 min.
Questions
1. What have you done as a health
committee to motivate volunteers?
2. What has your community done to
motivate volunteers?
Box 3.4.4: How to motivate volunteers
Instructions to the Facilitator
1. Lead participants in a
brainstorming session on
practical ways of motivating
volunteers
2. Write the suggestions down on
a flip chart
3. Compare responses with those
suggested in Box 3.4.4.
Wrap up by committing VHCs
to advocate their communities
to motivate volunteers.
1. Provide working gear and replace as necessary
2. Provide them with bicycles and money to cover maintenance costs
3. Recognise and appreciate them at important occasions – festivals, durbars, etc
4. Pay their transport costs to training programmes and other meetings
5. Visit them occasionally
6. Assist them on their farms or other businesses
7. Provide them with food stuffs.
Unit Summary
Work traditionally demands that we always evaluate our work and that of other people.
These days our supervisors evaluate our work with us and teach us how to do this in
an interactive way. The approach is called facilitative supervision. It requires planning,
information gathering and the use of the information for community health work to improve
service delivery. Even though this method takes a bit of time to implement, it is a useful tool
that involves both the supervisor and those being supervised. It gives everyone a chance to
work to improve community health.