NDLI: Experiences of integrating community volunteers as extensions of the primary care team to help support older adults at home: a qualitative study

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Gaber, Jessica Oliver, Doug Valaitis, Ruta Cleghorn, Laura Lamarche, Larkin Avilla, Ernie Parascandalo, Fiona Price, David Dolovich, Lisa
Abstract	Background Increasing the integration of community volunteers into primary health care delivery has the potential to improve person-focused, coordinated care, yet the use of volunteers in primary care is largely unexplored. Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY) is a multi-component intervention involving trained community volunteers functioning as extensions of primary care teams, supporting care based on older adults’ health goals and needs. This study aimed to gain an understanding of volunteer experiences within the program and client and health care provider perspectives on the volunteer role. Methods This study used a qualitative descriptive approach embedded in a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Participants included Health TAPESTRY volunteers, health care providers, volunteer coordinator, and program clients, all connected to two primary care practice sites in a large urban setting in Ontario, Canada. Data collection included semi-structured focus groups and interviews with all participants, and the completion of a measure of attitudes toward older adults and self-efficacy for volunteers. Qualitative data were inductively coded and analyzed using a constant comparative approach. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results Overall, 30 volunteers and 64 other participants (clients, providers, volunteer coordinator) were included. Themes included: 1. Volunteer training: “An investment in volunteers”; 2. Intergenerational volunteer pairing: “The best of both worlds”; 3. Understanding the volunteer role and its scope: “Lay people involved in care”; 4. Volunteers as extensions of primary care teams: “Being the eyes where they live”; 5. The disconnect between volunteers and the clinical team: “Is something being done?”; 6. “Learning… all the time”: Impacts on volunteers; and 7. Clients’ acceptance of volunteers. Conclusions This study showed that it is possible to integrate community volunteers into the primary care setting, adding human connections to deepen the primary care team’s understanding of their patients. Program implementation suggestions that emerged included: using role play in training, making volunteer role boundaries and specifications clear, and making efforts to connect volunteers and the primary care team they are supporting. This exploration of stakeholder voices has the potential to help improve volunteer program uptake and acceptability, as well as volunteer recruitment, retention, and training. Trial registration For RCT: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02283723 , November 5, 2014.
Related Links	https://bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12875-020-01165-2.pdf
Ending Page	13
Page Count	13
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	27314553
DOI	10.1186/s12875-020-01165-2
Journal	BMC Primary Care
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	21
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2020-05-16
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	General Practice Family Medicine Primary Care Medicine Volunteers Primary care Older adults Home visits Qualitative research Interprofessional teams
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Family Practice
Journal Impact Factor	3.2/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.3/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Examining Interprofessional teams structures and processes in the implementation of a primary care intervention (Health TAPESTRY) for older adults using normalization process theory

Responding to vulnerable patients with multimorbidity: an interprofessional team approach

Primary care multidisciplinary teams in practice: a qualitative study

A Volunteer Program to Connect Primary Care and the Home to Support the Health of Older Adults: A Community Case Study

Development, successes, and potential pitfalls of multidisciplinary chronic disease management clinics in a family health team: a qualitative study

Telemedicine in primary care of older adults: a qualitative study

Interprofessional collaboration in nursing homes (interprof): a grounded theory study of general practitioner experiences and strategies to perform nursing home visits

Primary care physician responses to requests by older adults for unnecessary drugs: a qualitative study

The experience of primary care teams during the early phase of COVID-19: A qualitative study of primary care practice leaders in Ontario, Canada

Experiences of integrating community volunteers as extensions of the primary care team to help support older adults at home: a qualitative study

Similar Documents

Examining Interprofessional teams structures and processes in the implementation of a primary care intervention (Health TAPESTRY) for older adults using normalization process theory

Responding to vulnerable patients with multimorbidity: an interprofessional team approach

Primary care multidisciplinary teams in practice: a qualitative study

A Volunteer Program to Connect Primary Care and the Home to Support the Health of Older Adults: A Community Case Study

Development, successes, and potential pitfalls of multidisciplinary chronic disease management clinics in a family health team: a qualitative study

Telemedicine in primary care of older adults: a qualitative study

Interprofessional collaboration in nursing homes (interprof): a grounded theory study of general practitioner experiences and strategies to perform nursing home visits

Primary care physician responses to requests by older adults for unnecessary drugs: a qualitative study

The experience of primary care teams during the early phase of COVID-19: A qualitative study of primary care practice leaders in Ontario, Canada

Experiences of integrating community volunteers as extensions of the primary care team to help support older adults at home: a qualitative study