Survey for potential volunteers

Summary:

This page shows all survey results and survey analysis documents that are set to gain opinions from potential volunteers, elders and elderly's family members for the motivation of being a volunteer, whether the elderly and the family member will accept help from external volunteers. All survey results come with original questions, options and percentages of answers for the corresponding participant.

To see full details and analysis

Q1: Have you ever been a volunteer?

A: Yes, and I'm currently being a volunteer;

B: Yes, I have had such experiences before;

C: No, I have never been a volunteer

Brief Analysis: Most of the participants have the experience of being a volunteer who occupies two of thirds of the share. Others who have no experience in being a volunteer occupy 33.3% of the share.

Q2: Do you enjoy helping people, and what is the main reason if you always help them?

A: Yes, I like the feeling of being needed by others;

B: Yes, I wish to improve my social skill by helping people;

C: Yes, I'm practising altruism;

D: Yes, I want to contribute more to the community due to some personal reason;

E: No, I don't expect to gain any happiness from helping people;

F: No, I wish to help others, but I'm not able to do so;

G: Please tell

Brief Analysis: Most participants, who occupy 90.9% of the share, feel good when being needed by others and realise that helping people can improve their social skills and practise altruism. Only a few participants, who only occupy 9.9% of the share, disagree with being a volunteer due to some reasons.

Q3: Do you always maintain a good relationship with your neighbourhood?

A: Yes, I usually chat with them;

B: Yes, I can give a hand although I don't always greet them;

C: No, I'm not good at dealing with people, so I don't talk to them unless I have to;

D: No, because they are not friendly to me though I have tried to make friends with them;

E: Other situations, please tell: ____

Brief Analysis: 42.4% of the participants are not used to communicating with unfamiliar people, while 54.5% do so. Only one participant selects E for this question, and his answer is "I never met them".

Q4: Do you usually help your close friends?

A: Yes, I will always be there if I'm called;

B: Yes, I will look after my friend as long as I can;

C: No, I will show up only when necessary;

D: No, I will ask for help for my friend instead of helping by myself;

E: I have never experienced such a situation

Brief Analysis: Most participants are helpful people since 81.9% of the participants tend to give a hand as much as possible if necessary. In contrast, no participant said they would not help their friends but 12.1% of the participants would ask for other assistance for their friends when necessary. Only 6.1% of the participants never experienced such a situation.

Q5: Are you willing to volunteer to help the elderly people who live alone when an accident (such as a fall down) happens at their homes?

A: Yes, I will always offer a hand;

B: Yes, I will be there if I can;

C: No, I'm not sure whether I can help elderly people;

D: No, I don't help strangers

Brief Analysis: 60.5% of the participants will help older people if they are called. However, there are also 39.4% of the participants take a negative attitude or never help strangers.

Q6: If yes, tell me why? (Select one or more options)

A: I enjoy helping people;

B: I have a similar family member at home, so I know their difficulties;

C: I want to acquire more experience in social working;

D: I want to make friends while volunteering;

E: I used to gain exceptional help from others, so I want to share this kind of love;

F: I have chosen a negative answer to the previous question;

G: Tell me more:

Brief Analysis: Most participants choose to help older people because they enjoy helping others, and some of them have similar older people at home so they know the difficulty. Other answers are pretty even as many participants have a different reason for helping or not helping older people. In detail, 36.4% of the participants simply enjoy helping people, 27.3% of them have a similar family member who is old and living alone, 15.2% of them want to acquire more experience in social working, 15.2% of them wish to make friends while doing volunteering jobs, 15.2% of them used to be helped by others and want to share this kind of love, 21.2% of them choose a negative answer on the previous question and finally 2 participants give their own explanations. Those two who want to tell more said: "How can I know an elder is called down at home? Am I a thief?" and "I wish there would be someone to help me when my family members are suffering the same thing".

Q7: Are you good at communicating with elderly people?

A: Yes, I always talk to older people;

B: Yes, since I'm patient enough so I believe that I can do that;

C: I'm not sure, but I'd like to try it;

D: I'm not confident with it at all

Brief Analysis: 42.4% of the participants would like to try to communicate with older people, although they are unsure whether they can do it. At the same time, another half of the participants, who occupy 48.5% of the share, give a positive answer as they are patient and always talk to older people. Only 9.1% of the participants said they are not confident with communicating with older people at all.

Q8: Can you keep the patient to spend a long time accompanying the senior when you arrive and realise that this is going to be a tough task (e.g. the senior is severely injured but his/her family members won't arrive in a short time)?

A: Yes, I'm a patient person, so I will keep on-site until at least one family member has arrived;

B: Yes, I will keep calm and patient as long as possible;

C: Yes, I will keep waiting for a certain time, maybe 2 hours;

D: No, I will only wait till the emergency unit has taken over the patient

Brief Analysis: 69.7% of the participants said they will wait as long as they can while a few participants, who occupy 30.3% of the share, can only wait for a limited amount of time.

Q9: Do you think the volunteer should be allowed to give up a particular rescue task and request to arrange for another volunteer to take the place? (Objective reasons are not included)

A: Yes, they have the right to quit if they feel unpleasant when dealing with some special cases

B: Yes, but they have to wait until another volunteer has arrived;

C: No, but they should be allowed to request more volunteers for assistance;

D: No, a job has to be finished once started

Brief Analysis: 57.6% of the participants agreed to give volunteers the freedom to repent after they started medical assistance. In contrast, 42.5% of the participants claim that assistance tasks cannot be stopped once begin, but more helpers should be dispatched if requested.

Q10: If you feel unrespected in a case, no matter whether you did anything wrong, will you keep doing this work?

A: Yes, I will keep doing that because I have chosen to be a first aid volunteer;

B: Yes, because I believe I can do it better next time;

C: Yes, being unrespected is not my fault;

D: Not sure, I will carefully consider the meaning of continuing to be a volunteer

E: Please tell:

Brief Analysis: More than one-third of the participants, who occupy 39.4% of the share, will reconsider the meaning of being a volunteer if they are unrespected by others. However, 60.7% of the participants will keep doing volunteer jobs even if they feel unrespected.

Survey for elderly and their family members

To see full details and analysis

Q1: Are you aged above 60?

A: Yes;

B: No

Brief Analysis: 86.7% of participants are not elderly people and only 13.3% of them are, which means most feedbacks come from possible family members of elderly people.

Please note that most questions after this one have been divided into two parts: the senior group and the senior’s family member group. Questions with a digit “a” following their number were shown to participants who chose above 60 years old on Question 1 while questions with a digit “b” were shown to other participants.

Q2a: Are you living alone without accompany of relatives?

A: Yes, I’m living alone without a family member accompanied;

B: No, I live with my family members, and the family member can notice any abnormal situations once occur

Brief Analysis: For participants over 60, only one-fourth of them are living alone while others are living with their family members.

Q2b: Do you have a senior family member who lives alone without accompany of relatives?

A: Yes, one or more seniors in my family are living alone;

B: No, we live with family members, and the family member can notice any abnormal situations once occur

Brief Analysis: 76.9% of participants claimed their older family members have relatives and family members to live with. At the same time, there are still a small number of participants, 23.1% of the share, who have elderly people living alone at home without any family member to accompany with.

Q3a: Do you usually talk to the neighbourhoods?

A: Often;

B: Sometimes;

C: Rare;

D: No, or unsure

Brief Analysis: No participant said they often talk to neighbours, and half of the participants sometimes talk to neighbours. Only one participant said he rarely talked to neighbours, and another said he never talked to neighbours.

Q3b: Does the elder in your family usually talk to the neighbourhoods?

A: Often;

B: Sometimes;

C: Rare;

D: No, or unsure

Brief Analysis: When the same question was asked to older people’s family members, 42.3% of participants said their seniors often talk to their neighbours, and the choice was followed by “Sometimes” with 34.6% of the share. However, responses claimed their seniors rarely or never talked to their neighbours are the minority, collectively occupying 23.1% of the share.

Q4a: Do you frequently talk to your close friends? In other words, is there someone who can call once an accident occurs?

A: Yes, and they can arrive to help;

B: Yes, but they are old too, so they can only convey messages;

C: No, there is no friend available for me to call

Brief Analysis: Three-quarters of the participants choose A, which means their friends can always arrive immediately and offer help. Only one participant realises that his friends are too old to help him, but his friends would still do something helpful. None of the participants said no friend was available to call for help.

Q4b: Do your seniors frequently talk to their close friends? In other words, is there someone who can call once an accident occurs?

A: Yes, and they can arrive to help;

B: Yes, but they are old too, so they can only convey messages;

C: No, there is no friend available for my senior family member to call

Brief Analysis: The result of this question is pretty even. First, participants' older family members' friends are helpful and can always help occupy the majority with 38.5% of the share, followed by 34.6% of the participants believe friends of their seniors can do helpful things such as convey emergency messages. Finally, about 26.9% of the participants realise that their seniors have no friends to call for help once in an emergency.

Q5a: When there is something wrong with you, who do you think would be the person supposed to come?

A: Family members or relatives;

B. Neighbours;

C. Elder’s friends;

D. Anyone who can help

Brief Analysis: This question expresses a surprising situation as no participant expects their family members or relatives will come to help immediately. About half of the participants expect their neighbours will arrive very soon to offer help and followed by friends and other people as participants in both remaining parts occupy 25% of the share respectively.

Q5b: When there is something wrong with your older family members, who do you think would be the person supposed to come?

A: Family members or relatives; B. Neighbours; C. Elder’s friends; D. Anyone who can help

Brief Analysis: The answer to this question is also surprising which shows 42.3% of the participants expect people other than family members, relatives, neighbours and elder’s friends would come to help their older family members, and followed by family members&relatives and neighbours that occupy 34.6% and 23.1% of the share respectively. None of them expect elder’s friends would come to help the seniors.

Q6a: Will you trust an external volunteer who can help you in an accident?

A: Yes, I will trust them;

B: No, I don’t believe that they will do a great job

Brief Analysis: About three fourth of the participants don't believe that volunteers can ideally help them in the case of an accident at home, while only 25% of participants would trust them.

Q6b: Will you trust an external volunteer who can help your older family member in an accident?

A: Yes, I will trust them;

B: No, I don’t believe that they will do a great job

Brief Analysis: When the same question was asked to relatives of seniors, 61.5% or nearly two-thirds of the participants trusted volunteers who would come and help the seniors very well. However, more than one-third of the participants, or 38.5%, don’t trust volunteers.

Q7a: If no family member can arrive very soon, will neighbours and volunteers be welcomed to help?

A: Yes, always welcomed;

B: Yes, unless that person looks kind;

C: Yes, but that person should be known before the accident;

D: No, I will only receive help from trusted people;

E: It depends on how severe the situation would be

Brief Analysis: The answer is pretty even except for option E as four parts of participants occupy 25% of the share respectively, with half of the participants agreeing to receive help from neighbours and volunteers while another half don’t trust them.

Q7b: If no family member can arrive very soon, will neighbours and volunteers be welcomed to help?

A: Yes, always welcomed;

B: Yes, unless that person looks kind;

C: Yes, but that person should be known by the senior before the accident;

D: No, the senior will only receive help from trusted people;

E: It depends on how severe the situation would be

Brief Analysis: 61.5% of the participants always welcome neighbours and volunteers to help their older family members which are the majority. At the same time, some other participants agree conditional support such as the helper should be kind or have to be recognised before the accident, and these parts of participants occupy 30.8% of the share collectively. Only a few participants don’t expect their older family members to receive help from those neighbours or external volunteers, and they only occupy 7.6% of the share. A few responses from parts above also care about the severity of the situation.

Q8: Suppose asked to make a sequence of prioritising the kind of people to offer help (both groups of participants answer the same question):

Brief Analysis: According to the prioritisation result, most of the participants put a family member on the top rank, followed by friends, professional teams and social workers. The favoured order of participants: ①Family members; ②Friends; ③Neighbours; ④Professional teams; ⑤Social workers

Q9a: If a neighbour or other volunteers are dispatched to come and help in a specific condition, what do you think is a good way to prevent this volunteer from doing illegal things (such as stealing) during the session?

A: Ask them to take a video during the help;

B: Ask them to take responsibility if such an illegal thing did happen;

C: Such risks are not avoidable, so the family should take responsibility;

D: Please tell

Brief Analysis: About three-fourth of the participants realise that this is an unavoidable problem, so they agree to take responsibility by themselves. In contrast, one-fourth of the participants still realise that such risks should be noticed for and asking the external helper to take a video recording would be necessary.

Q9b: If a neighbour or other volunteers are dispatched to come and help in a specific condition, what do you think is a good way to prevent this volunteer from doing illegal things (such as stealing) during the session?

A: Ask them to take a video during the help;

B: Ask them to take responsibility if such an illegal thing did happen;

C: Such risks are not avoidable, so the family should take responsibility;

D: Please tell

Brief Analysis: A great number of participants realise that such risks are evident and they would ask the external helper to take video recording, which part occupies 34.6% of the share, and take responsibility for potential illegal cases, which part occupies 38.5% of the share. No more than a quarter of the responses think such risks are unavoidable. In addition, the only response which opts for D is invalid since no detail has been provided.

Q10: Suppose your seniors are unwilling to receive external help while no family member is able to arrive at the place on time once an accident has happened. Will you attempt to persuade him/her? (This question only makes sense for seniors’ family members)

A: Yes, I will patiently talk to them; B: Yes, they always trust me; C: Yes, I will try but I can’t make sure it will work; D: No, I'm not confident to do that at all

Brief Analysis: According to the result, every participant is confident in persuading their older family members to receive help from external volunteers, with no participant feeling unconfident in doing that. In detail, 57.5% of the participants will try to talk to seniors patiently, and some others have a good relationship within the family who occupy 15.4% of the share. More than a quarter, or 26.9% of the participants, are happy to persuade their older family members, but they can’t ensure the senior will follow.

Q11a: What degree of help are you willing to receive?

A: Only call for the emergency service and lead emergency units to the house;

B: (Additional from A) Keeping talking to me to make me calm;

C: (Additional from A and B) Offering necessary medical treatment;

D: Should keep onside until at least one family member has arrived even when the emergency unit has picked me up

Brief Analysis: 50% of the participants, who are over 60, require the helper to keep onside all the way to the hospital until a family member has arrived. The other half of the participants require the helper to keep talking to them or taking some medical treatment when necessary but don’t need to visit the hospital with them. No participant agrees that the helper can do nothing more than just call the emergency service.

Q11b: What degree of help do elderly people in your family are willing to receive?

A: Only call for the emergency service and lead emergency units to the house;

B: (Additional from A) Talking to the elderly people to help them keep calm;

C: (Additional from A and B) Offering necessary medical treatment;

D: Should keep onside until at least one family member has arrived even when the emergency unit has picked up the patient

Brief Analysis: A total share of 80.8% of the participants expect the external helper to call emergency service, keep talking to the seniors and take some medical treatment. Only 19.2% of participants require the helper to visit the hospital with the patient or allow them to leave once the emergency service has been called.

Analysis and Conclusion:

• This survey was designed and distributed to older people or possibly have one or more senior family members at home. Most responses come from family members of older people, and they live with older family members.
• After analysing those results, we realise that many elderly people occasionally talk to neighbours, and most of them have friends to call if something goes wrong. Seniors prefer getting help from people they know, while their relatives welcome anyone to help those seniors. Similarly, relatives of older people tend to trust volunteers and neighbours can ideally help their seniors, while older participants hold a negative attitude in trusting those external helpers. Both the senior group and the family member group agree that calling help from relatives is the priority, followed by friends and neighbours. At the same time, professional teams and volunteers are less priority to call. The family member of older people concerned about the risks of illegal behaviours that may be done by those external helpers, while older people don’t mind that and agree to take responsibility by the family. All participants are willing to persuade their older family members to receive help from volunteers if necessary. However, most responses claim that the external helper is expected to call emergency services, talk to older people and provide proper medical treatment when offering help. In addition, the external helper will be allowed to leave when at least one family member of the older people has arrived.