Gen Y Volunteers Providing innovative programs enhancing acute Mental Health Services

Presented by:

Robyn FeenstraManager of Volunteer Services

Mental Health Volunteer Service

Hunter New England Mental Health Service

What we’ll cover today

• About HNE Mental Health• Brief overview Volunteer

Service• About Gen Y volunteers• Programs & Case studies• Benefits that Gen Y bring• Volunteer Management• Questions

About HNE Mental Health

• Acute service • Covers an area the size of

England• Almost 1200 mental health

clinicians and non-clinicians • 7 inpatient services• Community based services

About HNE Volunteer Service

Mission Statement:

To enhance consumers recovery journey

• Not a traditional hospital volunteer service

• Direct consumer (patient) contact• 90% are Gen Y• Roles include: running group

programs (games, sporting, social, bbq), cognitive remediation, research, resource officer, book connect

About Gen Y Volunteers

Motivational Factors

• An “I need” attitude• To learn• To feel valued• For it to be of benefit to them personally,

career development, personal development

Expectation

• Expect assistance• To do what they want to, not necessarily what

needs to be done• Many already know exactly what they want to

do with their volunteer role & expect that you can accommodate this need

Recruiting

• Links with university• Word of mouth• Facebook• Volunteer centres• The title of volunteer role to appear important

– not child minder, but interactive play assistant, not book trolley but book connect

Length of service

• Typically 6 months to 12 months• In that time they may hold more than one

position• Some stay for 2 to 3 years

Programs

Fitting in with current program

• Examine what volunteers need & place them in a program that meets those needs– Eg: communication skill, place in book connect– Group programs, place in units where they run

groups

Developing Programs Case Study 1 Grace

Case Study 1 Grace

• Background: Grace completed a psychology degree & is now studying health promotion. Did not want to work with consumers, but wanted to do health promotion work.

• Issues:– 1: mental health do not have a health promotion

unit.– 2: I did not want the service to miss out on her

skills

Case Study 1 Grace

• Solution: – Look for an area that needs health promotion activities.– Didn’t have to look far, Grace is developing a new

volunteer manual, which includes information on mental health.

• Benefit:– Grace gets a document she can claim as her own for

future jobs & the experience in developing manual.– Service gets a manual that actually benefits volunteers.

Developing ProgramsCase Study 2, Courtyard

Case Study 2, Courtyard

• Background: Mark was a 50 year old university art professor. Naomi was a graduate fine art student & currently studying to be an OT

• Issue: with such great backgrounds, I wanted a project that could utilise their skills.

• Solution: I discussed their background & skills with other staff & we identified a need within our courtyards – we needed a mural painted.

• Benefit: Mark & Naomi brought with them their skills in this sort of project & made us re-think our mural idea.

• We formed a committee involving Mark & Naomi to focus on the courtyard.

• Mark suggested that we consult with consumers, carers & staff

• AND we discovered that a mural was low down on the list of what was wanted

• We have now developed around the needs & wants of the unit.

Case Study 2, Courtyard

Case Study 2, Courtyard

Developing ProgramsCase Study 3 – Child Minder

Case Study 3 – Child Minder

• Background: request from staff for a child minder/baby sitter

• Issue: Child minding is not seen by HNE MH Gen Y volunteers (mainly psychology students) to be useful for their career

• Solution: – Incorporated observations of children into role– Provided training for volunteers of at risk children– changed the title to Interactive Play Assistant

Case Study 3 – Child Minder

• Benefit:– Inundated with volunteers for this role– Service has child minding now– Service has professional observations of other children in

the family– Volunteers feel valued as they are actively contributing via

their observations into consumer care– Volunteers have received additional training which they

place on resumes and incorporate into paid work

Management Challenges & Benefit to Organisation

Support

• Volunteer meetings – not a priority for Gen Y• Prefer email communication• Ongoing training – volunteers & staff• Direct supervision within units by unit staff• Volunteer Manager provides to volunteers ongoing

opportunities, support around study, someone to talk to around volunteering issues

• Volunteer Manager supports staff through recruiting volunteers, developing job descriptions, dealing with any issues

Management Challenges

• High turnover of volunteers which means:– Increased recruiting, training, orientation– Increased administration, data entry, filing– Increased costs– More development of job descriptions

• Incorporate project work• As Uni rosters & part time work change, so do

the volunteer rosters

Management Challenges Cont’d

• Continual need to be flexible and innovative• Volunteer Managers need to have a thorough

understanding of their organisation, its needs and contacts

• Need to promote the volunteer service to staff & let them know what volunteers can do

Benefit to Organisation

• Very hands on service, enhancing our consumers experience in hospital

• Highly educated volunteer service, bringing with them the latest ideas

• Highly skilled volunteers who can in a most professional manner assist staff

• It can act as a training ground for future employees

Thank You & Questions