Abstract:
Aim: The study aims to explore the attitudes and perceptions of family and community palliative care givers
pertaining to volunteerism.
Objective: The main objective is to involve palliative caregivers and their supervisors in assessing their
contribution to care and evaluate their state of volunteerism.
Materials and Methods: The study attracted qualitative design and involved 82 palliative caregivers in 10 focus
group discussions; one-to-one interviews with the nurses supervising them. Two slightly different interview guides
were used as research instruments.
Results: Findings indicate that palliative care giving volunteerism is motivated and sustained by: (1) Principles of
love emanating from blood and kinship relations; (2) Patriotism and community responsibility over one another;
(3) Adherence and respect of their culture and government call. Volunteerism was also found challenged by: (1)
Predominance of the elderly and lowly educated women; (2) Poverty and heavy caseload; (3) Being shunned
by the youth; (4) And lack of morale, recognition and motivation.
Recommendations: The study recommends: (1) Socializing boys early enough in life into care giving; (2) Offering
incentives to the caregivers; (3) Use of public forums to persuade men to accept helping women in carrying
out care giving duties; (4) And enlisting support of all leaders to advocate for men’s involvement in care giving.
