Volunteerism and older adults: Implications for social work practice

Much has been written about volunteerism in general, and more specifically about the older volunteer. But what motivates a person to volunteer? How do they learn about the opportunity? What do they need to feel satisfied with the experience and how might that and other factors relate to whether they continue volunteering? The following literature review highlights some of the findings about volunteer motivation, satisfaction, recruitment, and ret ention as it relates to volunteers in general, older volunteers, and illust rative of one setting, hospice volunteers. Implications for social work pra ctice with older persons are discussed.