Many Forms of Volunteering - Personal Statement Example

Reflective Portfolio‎ Many people tend to adopt different hobbies that attract them and they feel it is the best thing to do in their free time. For me, understanding my social responsibilities and adopting volunteerism is my hobby. Volunteerism is becoming the hobby of many people across the globe. People from every profession, every age tend to adopt volunteering to fulfill their social responsibilities (Wilson, 2008, p. 58). While there are many forms of volunteering, one of the most rewarding thing to do is to spend time with the elderly. As a volunteer of the elderly in the Midland Heart, I found out that in between of life’s tough calls, these elderly people are merely living on special medical care in retirement homes and all they desire for is a comforting human connection (Warburton, 2000, p. 89). The organization Midland Heart is a UK based housing and care organization. The basic function of the organization is to provide care and help to the people who wish to maintain their houses, live independently, discover their own abilities, or live in retirement homes (Midland Heart). They have enhanced customer involvement which gives them the maximum communities to transform lives of those elderly who are retired and in need. Midland Heart provides care and support to over seven thousand customers at one time. Their dedicated staff members and the dedicated hours of care given to the customers attracted me towards the cause. The organization was the best one to work with as it gave a sense of responsibility and unity. My interest to work in this area is because of my belief that those who take up this opportunity find themselves involved in their own sense of pride and satisfaction. During the course of volunteerism, a relationship is formed between the volunteer and the seniors with whom they spend their time. This relationship is a blossom of friendship defined by mutual admiration and respect. The seniors have a pot filled of knowledge and experience which they pass down in the form of storytelling. They mentor their young volunteers and are willing to provide them reward for their given time (Hunt, 2009, p. 128). These facts appealed to me and thus I became interested to work for the elderly with Midland Heart. The aim of the organization Midland Heart is to make sure that they serve the largest number of people who are in need (Midland Heart). Their mission is to be nationally recognized as the provider of transformational care and support services to the people by creating opportunities for them and all individuals so that they are able to realize and fulfill their potentials. They believe that people who want to live independently should be given the support that follows them until they need it. In the same way they provide care and support to the elderly who tend to have no one to care for them and are retired (Long, 2013, p. 90). Their main objective is also to give a commitment that they would provide services to the most vulnerable individuals of the society by creating an environment where they can transform their lives and maximize their independence. In my time period, I worked in a care home with the elderly where I was supposed to provide them comfort and support to make them feel loved and cared about. These elderly are kept in a care home under the Midland Heart where they maintain facilities to transform the old lives of these citizens. These homes create an environment for them to relax and live their tough days of life. I believe I greatly contributed to the organization to provide care and support to the elderly by volunteering with a positive intention. The main aim for my contribution was to provide care to the ones in crisis. In the care home I spent my time with many elderly people and got to know about their stories of life. I spent days with them and it seemed to be in the blink of an eye. The days went by so fast just because of the busy time I had with them. There was always some activity that I performed with the elderly (Goudge, 2004, 57). One of the activities that I performed was building a snowman. I and other volunteers helped the elderly to enjoy outdoors in the snow, and build a snowman. I befriended them and talked to them for hours knowing their life stories. It always gives them the courage and positive energy about the life they spent when they remind about all the good things and achievements they went through. The elderly feel overwhelmed when they talk about the hardships in their life and how they overcame them (Meyer, 2008, p. 231). Other than that, in the care home I taught them some IT skills that I knew. Since computers and information technology was not at its peak in their time, I took the opportunity to tell them about something which would be new to them and interesting too. They enjoyed the IT sessions thoroughly and felt they were one of us. Furthermore, other activities that I carried out in the days were watching movies, playing games and exercising. I took care of all their needs and tried to make them feel as fresh as they ever were. I encouraged them to exercise, play games, and use the computer and other activities that would make them busy and involved. When I decided about volunteering with the local senior citizen community, it was important to ensure which situation is best suitable. Some elderly people have specialized needs while some are just in care homes (Borus, 2011, p. 155). Midland Heart provides care homes for the retirees who do not have a home to live in. For these elderly people, the volunteers are expected to be friendly, caring and understanding. However, the most important thing remains the facilities that are provided to them. Midland has the largest variety of services for its customers and they deliver the best. They have more than 32,000 homes that they maintain and manage for their customers. Not only should the volunteers be friendly and cooperative, but also the staff members of the organization. Midland Heart guarantees dedicated members from the staffs who work for the betterment of the elderly. All their staff members that are assigned for the duty of the elderly are trained and taught about the type of care which has to be given to the elderly. The staff members know and understand their extra duty towards the elderly since they need special care. The type of care involves the supervision of their activities, their food, their sleep, their medicines and other daily life activities. Midland Heart tell their staff members at firsthand how to treat and care for their clients. Since it is an important duty and the social contact should be very delicate, the personnel chosen consists of very energetic and dedicated members of the society. These members are also trained in the assigning of volunteers and they make sure that the volunteers are capable enough to handle the elderly. The organization ensures that their appointed people, whether staff or volunteers are delivering the best service. They introduce their members to the nature of work which is expected by them; they motivate them and provide them with the incentives so that they are motivated throughout the course of their duty (Willigen, 2000, p. 310). There are investments made in the building of new homes across Midlands every year. They believe that their homes are built not only for an individual for a course of time, but rather they are for the generations to love in the long period of time. Huge amounts of money are paid for these developments. Furthermore, whenever an area is in the need for development, the organization makes sure that it consults with its customers who are involved in the making of that area. They feel the importance of involving their customers so that they feel homely and loved. They also consult the local people as they believe the decisions they are taking may be important for them as well. Midland Heart ensures the involvement and consultation of all the people involved, and then they consider the construction. For that they choose the best architects so that they build exactly what is needed in that area. Their construction is done with high quality material and techniques. The constructers make sure that there is not much noise made that would disturb the nearby locals and toxicants are not highly used to threaten the lives of the people nearby. These developments bring a mixture of tenures together. A real mixture of people lives in the community which brings in positive difference to neighborhoods. The developments allow the customers to have a wide choice and that allows them to choose the homes they want to love in. Despite the great efforts done by the organization, there are some areas where they need to improve their services. As they are dealing with the care homes of the elderly, they are highly recommended to deal them with proper care. Some of them need special care and they should not be separated from the ones who don’t. If this is done, they might feel left out and ignored. The main aim is to provide them with care and love, and for that unity and impartiality is the main motive. The communities that are created should be united and impartial. In some homes, if young individuals want to live with the elderly, they should be allowed to (Oman, 1999, p. 315). Unity and impartiality is highly recommended in these homes and communities as they greatly help the society to enhance with the application of unity amongst the different levels of people. Unity is the best way to deal with the people who are in crisis as they would not feel alone and would tend to change their lives for the better faster. This is a very practical implication which would allow the people to come together and know one another rather than staying with people of their own kind such as same age group. Unity strengthens the society and thus, these communities should also be constructed on the pillars of unity and impartiality (Gorey, 1998, p. 70). The volunteers should be chosen without much regard to their age, gender or profession. They should just be ethical and caring towards the elderly. Volunteers of all ages and professions would bring along diversity in the environment. Elderly people like to meet people from different walks of life. This way they would be able to talk to a number of people from which they can choose with whom they are most comfortable with. All the volunteers should be given incentives to work for the cause. Training for volunteers will also result in better providing of care and love. Elders need special care for which volunteers should be trained especially if there are citizens who are on special medical or physical treatment. Training for volunteers will enhance the organization’s services and it will give a boost for more volunteers to come in and serve for the society with unity. The third recommendation is that the organization should plan more activities and events for the elderly. Volunteers come in and carry out activities of their choice. Every day comes in with different activities for the elderly. The organization management should plan certain events in which the elderly can participate such as book fairs, fund raising events, game shows etc. Such events would keep the elderly attacked to the outer world of fun and charm. At times there should be trips planned for the elderly so that they can experience the outer world and its changes and they don’t feel trapped in a care home. Arrangements should be made to take them on drives and to new places. In this way the Midland Heart can improve their services towards the elderly and make a home for them which are full of love and care. Not only do the elderly need admiration and attention of the humans, but they also need self satisfaction that they are still attached to the world and not separated from them. References Borus A. 2011. Volunteering: A How-To Guide. USA: Enslow Publishers Inc. Gorey K. 1998. “The beneficial effects of volunteering for older volunteers and the people they serve: A meta analysis.” The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 47(1), pp 69-79 Goudge M. 2004. Choosing a Care Home. UK: How To Books Ltd Hunt R. 2009. Introduction to Community-based Nursing. USA: Wolters Kluwer Health Long S. 2013. Caring for the Elderly in Japan and the US: Practices and Policies. NY: Routledge Meyer J. 2008. Understanding Care Homes: A Research and Development Perspective. USA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Midland Heart. Retrieved online from http://www.midlandheart.org.uk/ Oman D. 1999. “Volunteerism and mortality among the community-dwelling elderly.” Journal of Health psychology, 4(3), pp 301-316 Warburton J. 2000. Volunteers and Volunteering. Sydney: The Federation Press Willigen M. 2000. “Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course.” The Journals of Gerontology, 55(5), pp 308-318 Wilson J. 2008. Volunteers: A Social Profile. 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