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Researcher’s reflection, continued ...
too complex or demanding, but they felt they must continue because they did not
want to leave a vulnerable family without support. For many volunteers, this added
an ethical and moral dilemma to an already overwhelming situation. These
volunteers ran into a range of difficulties – for example, compromised levels of
service provision, physical and psychological effects of stress, a growing sense of
resentment at their powerlessness in this situation, and occasionally, boundary and
role violations. These are the same difficulties that are encountered by paid staff
(from all fields and sectors) who are overworked and under-supported, and are often
referred to collectively as ‘burnout’. My comparative experiences, taken in concert
with the insight of participants in the present study, point to the presence of paid
home visitors as a protective factor for both families and volunteers.
7.5.5 Value-Added: “The Volunteers Are Benefitting as Well as the Parents”
Separate from the benefits experienced by families, volunteers and staff across
all three programs spoke at length of the many positive outcomes that took place simply
by having lay persons – citizens – engaged as volunteer visitors. The examples shared
illustrated that volunteers, their families, and the community at large all benefited from
the training provided to volunteers, the skills and confidence they gained, the
relationships they formed in the community, and their increased awareness of
community resources and services. One paid staff member, who had also been a
volunteer visitor in the same program, stated that, “We've had a lot of volunteers for
whom it's been quite a life-changing experience for them to work in this field ... it's
given them a sense of competence and usefulness, and boosted their self-esteem. And
often it can change their own parenting.”
One manager spoke of the ripple effect of the volunteers’ involvement – in
essence, a form of community development – which adds up to many contributions to
their communities:
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