The Challenges and Opportunities of Online Volunteering for COVID-19 Response in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: The aim of this brief report is to identify the challenges and opportunities of online volunteering to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the managers of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).Methods: In this study we have used a qualitative method including semi-structured interviews for investigating the opportunities and challenges of using virtual volunteers. The eligible participants meeting the inclusion criteria for this study were eight IRCS managers who had used online volunteers for COVID-19 pandemic response.Results: Having considered the interviews with IRCS managers, we finally found seven items as opportunities including safety, availability, recruiting more volunteers, cost reduction, participation, geographical scope, and local considerations. Moreover, five items were found as challenges of online volunteering in IRCS including lack of commitment, cultural issues, infrastructure, reimbursement, and volunteer management.Conclusion: Online volunteering is a significant opportunity for humanitarian organizations especially during epidemics like the current COVID-19. Online volunteering for COVID-19 response by the Red Crescent involved a wide range of people including young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and minority groups, and people in rural areas.

Multifaceted volunteering: The volunteering experience in the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic in light of volunteering styles

“…Finally, a study conducted in Iran during the COVID‐19 pandemic found that online volunteering allows diverse populations to volunteer, including the disabled, the elderly, or people living in nonurban areas. However, this study also found that alternative forms of volunteering reduce commitment to volunteering (Seddighi et al., 2020). While there is some knowledge about the alternative patterns of volunteering, as presented above, the body of comparative researches on the experience of volunteers in alternative patterns of volunteering versus the traditional pattern in routine times is very limited (see, for example, Ihm, 2017).…”

Helping Behavior of Older Adults during the Early COVID-19 Lockdown in Belgium

“…For instance, older people with lifelong careers in the medical field – such as nurses, doctors, and social workers – volunteered in the medical field or older people helped online as tutors to support families with homeschooling ( Halpern, 2020 ; Sun et al, 2021 ). At the same time, we must remember that there are volunteers, including many older adults, who are unable to fulfill voluntary roles because of pandemic-related stay-at-home regulations and changes in the operations of social services and other nonprofit organizations ( Morrow-Howell et al, 2020 ; Seddighi et al., 2020 ; Sun et al., 2021 ).…”

Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Virtual Volunteering During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Volunteering is an important activity in the lives of many older adults, but many volunteer opportunities have disappeared with the COVID-19 pandemic (Seddighi et al, 2020). Stay-at-home orders and changes in operations for social services and other nonprofits have meant that many of the in-person volunteer roles filled by older adults are no longer active or older adults are concerned about continuing participation.…”