Physicians’ Perceptions of Volunteer Service at Safety-Net Clinics

Abstract

Background: Volunteer physicians are crucial for the operation of safety-net clinics, which provide medical care for uninsured and underinsured populations. Thus, identifying ways to maximize the number of physicians volunteering at such clinics is an important goal.Objective: To investigate the perceptions, motivations, functions, and barriers associated with physician volunteering in four safety-net clinics in San Bernardino County, Southern California, a location of great medical need with many barriers to care.Methods: The study participants are physicians belonging to the Southern California Permanente Medical Group who use a combination of discretionary time (during regular work hours) and personal time in evening and weekend hours to volunteer their services. The experimental design incorporates a mixed methodology: an online survey of 31 physicians and follow-up interviews with 8 of them.Results: Physicians conveyed uniformly positive perceptions of their volunteer service, and most were motivated by humanitarian or prosocial desires. Volunteering also provided a protective "escape hatch" from the pressures of the physicians' regular jobs. Physicians cited few challenges to volunteering. The most common personal barrier was a lack of time. The most common professional barriers were organizational and supply issues at the clinic, along with the patients' social, transportation, and financial challenges. Conclusion:The results suggest that appealing to physicians' values and faith, and highlighting the burnout-prevention qualities of volunteering, may be key to recruitment and retention of volunteer physicians who serve underserved and underinsured populations in community clinics.

Trainee Responses to Hurricane Harvey: Correlating Volunteerism With Burnout

“…Physicians generally have positive experiences with volunteering at community or safety net clinics, and the ability to focus more on patients, avoid organizational problems such as electronic medical records and regulations, and have more control over hours. These have been shown to improve well-being and protect against feelings of burnout ( 5 , 22 ). The main difficulty for physicians who wish to volunteer is the lack of time.…”

“…These include massage therapies, stress consultations and management classes which teach breathing, visualization, affirmations and mindfulness, yoga classes, aerobics classes, acupuncture, sportsmetrics, lifestyle coaches and nutrition consults. Volunteering has been associated with improved mental and physical health, an “escape hatch” from regular constrains of physician work, and may serve as an inoculation against trainee and physician burnout ( 5 ). We sought to investigate the impact of Hurricane Harvey on new trainees at our institute, and correlate volunteerism with measures of burnout and resilience.…”

Increasing Access to Specialized Dermatology Care: A Retrospective Study Investigating Clinical Operation and Impact of a University-Affiliated Free Clinic

“…Participating in humanitarian efforts may increase provider satisfaction and decrease burnout by increasing psychological wellness via enhanced morale, social connections, and altruism [ 33 ]. Physician volunteers are most commonly motivated by humanitarian and prosocial desires [ 36 ], although a formal survey on volunteer satisfaction in our setting would be needed to investigate this further. Our ongoing involvement with Hope@UMHS illustrates the sustainability of volunteerism within our institution.…”

Improving Volunteer Engagement in Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations

“…Nonprofit leaders that fail to initiate positive impressions of the organization reduce volunteer reten-tion (Carvalho & Sampaio, 2017). Individuals that feel part of the organization and trust the leaders remain loyal (McGeehan, Takehara, & Daroszewski, 2017). Rowe and Alexander (2015) suggested environments of transparency and openness increase trust in organizations.…”

“…Leaders who meet the needs of volunteers increase donated hours and accomplish the organization's needs (Scherer et al, 2016). Additionally, McGeehan et al (2017) provided information that suggested physicians may volunteer their services through marketing focused on volunteering during a discretionary time to eliminate burnout. Herd, Adams-Pope, Bowers, and Sims (2016) suggested healthcare organizations that implemented strategies focused on programs to support future leaders through education and ongoing development created value to address change.…”