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Volunteering with older people in a care home

Anthea Tinker (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Victoria Berdugo (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Michael Buckland (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Lois Crabtree (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Anistta Maheswaran (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Andrea Ong (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Jasmine Patel (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Emilia Pusey (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)
Chandini Sureshkumar (Institute of Gerontology, King’s College London, London, UK)

Working with Older People

ISSN: 1366-3666

Article publication date: 4 September 2017

Issue publication date: 19 October 2017

389

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that volunteering before medical school with older people in a care home has on the perceptions of older people.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight medical students answered an anonymous questionnaire relating to their experiences of volunteering in a care home before medical school. This was combined with an analysis of the relevant literature.

Findings

All the students had initially volunteered to enhance their CV for medical school. After volunteering, they had a greater realisation of the variety of older people. They also gained a number of transferable skills related to communicating with older people, especially those with cognitive impairment. The greatest learning experience was around the issues to do with dementia.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based on eight students although they were from different areas.

Practical implications

It would be beneficial if care homes could be more proactive in encouraging prospective medical students to volunteer. Medical schools could also provide clearer advice or take a more active stance such as encouraging prospective students to volunteer with older people. Further research should be with a larger sample to gain insight into varying perspectives. It would also be useful to conduct research into older adults’ attitudes towards the contribution of potential medical students to their own lives and to the home.

Social implications

Volunteering before medical school should be encouraged as it will enhance the chances of getting a place as well as being an eye opening experience and equip them with lifelong skills.

Originality/value

Original.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Conflicts of interest: there are no conflicts of interest.The research was approved by the King's College Research Ethics Committee. The content is solely the responsibility of all the authors who collaboratively designed the research, took part in it and wrote the paper. No funding was obtained for this research.

Citation

Tinker, A., Berdugo, V., Buckland, M., Crabtree, L., Maheswaran, A., Ong, A., Patel, J., Pusey, E. and Sureshkumar, C. (2017), "Volunteering with older people in a care home", Working with Older People, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 229-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-08-2017-0019

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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