Volunteer Activities on Long-Term Care Residents

Medical University Of South Carolina, Charleston SC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Many residents in long-term care (LTC) facilities experience social isolation, lack of control over their lives and role loss. Adopting a meaningful role may improve the quality of life of residents in LTC facilities according to the activity theory of aging. Participation in volunteer activities creates a meaningful social role. The proposed study will be the first randomized clinical trial designed to investigated the value of engaging LTC residents in an innovative volunteer activity (English Conversation Partner Program ) to improve their quality of life. Through the Program, residents will mentor conversational skills for English as a second language (ESL) students who use self-directed learning strategies. Eighty-four cognitively-intact residents will be recruited from LTC facilities in Charleston County, South Carolina. Eligible residents in each facility will be assigned randomly into one of three groups: (1) mentoring, (2) friendly visit, or (3) usual care control. Residents in the mentoring group will tutor English conversational skills (listening and speaking) on a one-on-one basis for one hour, twice per week for 12 consecutive weeks. Residents in the friendly visit group will be visited and engaged in social interactions with ESL students for the same duration. Including a friendly visit group will test the hypothesis that the structured volunteer role will improve residents' quality of life above and beyond a casual visitation. Residents in the usual care control group will participate in the facilities' standard social and recreational activities. At the end of the 12 weeks, residents who participants in the mentoring program are hypothesized to show improvements in quality as indicated by having (1) better self-concept, (2) better physical health status, (3) higher levels of life satisfaction, (4) higher cognitive functioning, and (5) fewer depressive symptoms as compared to residents who experience the friendly visit or the usual care. Moreover, it is hypothesized that these positive effects will be sustained at 3-month follow-up. It is expected that findings will support the activity theory of aging and validate the beneficial effects of residents in LTC facilities participating in structured volunteer activities.