Oncology Volunteers: The Effect of a Personal Cancer History on Compassion and Psychological Well-Being

Exploring motivations of peer supporters for caregivers of patients with hematological malignancies-a qualitative study

PURPOSE

Social support interventions, particularly peer support from former family caregivers, offer unique assistance to caregivers of newly diagnosed patients. Since voluntary peer support is driven by personal choice, understanding the motivations for participating and how motivation evolves over time is essential. This study explores the motivations for becoming a peer support provider for family caregivers of patients with hematological malignancies and how motivation changes over time.

METHODS

This qualitative study encompasses 18 semi-structured interviews with family caregivers providing peer support (N = 11) at two time points: (1) just after certification as peer supporters but prior to starting the peer support program and (2) at the 6-week mark of their 12-week peer support program. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Motivation for participating in a voluntary peer-to-peer support program as a peer support provider center on four main themes: "Driven by past experiences", "Moral obligation is intrinsic to identity", "Meaningful use of personal experiences", and "Guiding new caregivers". Motivation was influenced during the support program, particularly by the presence or absence of feedback from family caregivers and by participation in network meetings with other peer support providers.

CONCLUSIONS

This study emphasizes the importance of networking meetings for family caregiver peer support providers, as they facilitate exchange of knowledge and insights and discussion of challenges and rewards and provide an ongoing support and motivation. It also highlights the untapped potential of volunteering to provide unique social support benefiting both the family caregiver recipient of support and the support provider.

Oncology Volunteers in a Comprehensive Cancer Center: An Observational Study of Compassion and Well-Being

A descriptive, cross sectional design was used to compare perceptions of compassion and well-being of volunteers with and without a personal history of cancer. Most (79%) were >60 years of age, female (63%), married (75%), White (88%), and Non-Hispanic (79%). Thirteen (54%) had a history of cancer; two were still on treatment. Compassion scores were similar between groups. Volunteers with a history of cancer scored higher (p = 0.04) on General Well-being than those without a history of cancer. Understanding volunteer perceptions of compassion and well-being can guide our support structure and psychoeducation. Future studies could examine patient outcomes related to volunteerism.