Key result
Volunteer engagement in stroke self-management facilitates information exchange but requires clear roles and training.
Why the study?
Volunteer engagement improves intervention delivery in stroke rehabilitation programs but is under-utilized due to poor role clarity and program-related concerns.
Volunteer engagement in stroke self-management programs can be optimized through clear role definitions, strengthened collaboration with healthcare providers, and adequate training.
May inform volunteer integration in stroke programs; leaves open outcome benefits pending quantitative trials.
Stroke recovery is a complex, multidimensional and heterogeneous process. Volunteer engagement improves the delivery of interventions in stroke rehabilitation programs but is under-utilized due to poor role clarity and other program-related concerns. We evaluated healthcare providers' and volunteers' perceptions of volunteer engagement in an 8-week self-management program that provided self-management support for community-dwelling stroke survivors. Using a qualitative design, we conducted individual, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 5 trained healthcare providers and 18 volunteers. The participants shared their experiences of supporting survivors, perceptions of volunteer engagement, and areas of improvement to optimize volunteer support. Three main themes and six subthemes emerged: bilateral exchange between healthcare providers/volunteers and survivors; adoption of individualized approaches; and suggestions for optimizing volunteer contributions. Volunteer engagement can be optimized by developing well-designed programs with sufficient role clarity, strengthened collaborations with healthcare providers and adequate training. Our findings highlighted the contributions of trained volunteers in supporting stroke survivors' self-management. Future research should evaluate the use of peer and healthcare professional volunteers in such programs and build community capacity to support stroke survivors' recovery.
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Lo et al. (2022) studied Stroke (n=23). COMBO-KEY stroke self-management program was evaluated on Perceptions of volunteer engagement (qualitative themes). Volunteer engagement in an 8-week stroke self-management program facilitated bilateral exchange of information and concerted efforts in guiding survivors, which can be optimized by clarifying roles and providing adequate training.
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