Alexandra (Ali) Thompson
Home University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Host University: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU)
Contact Information: [email protected]
Institutional Capacity to Engage Older Adults for Volunteer Work in Vienna, Austria
Volunteering among older adults benefits both individuals and the community. Older adults bring considerable skills and professional experience to volunteer positions. Volunteering can provide a means for active aging and lifelong learning since it enables participation in broader society, can positively impact individual health and provides many opportunities for personal development.
Older adults are becoming an increasingly larger proportion of the overall population in Vienna, Austria. Older adult volunteer rates in Vienna are lower compared to the rest of Austria, however. Although this may be a result of broader social issues and the presence of extensive government services, this may also be a reflection of the ability of local volunteer organizations to promote volunteering. Some researchers and senior advocacy groups suggest that many organizations are currently not equipped to realize and capture the full potential of older adult volunteers.
This project studies the current institutional capacity of volunteer organizations in Vienna. Institutional capacity refers to an organization’s ability to provide volunteer roles and connect older adults to these opportunities. Using nine dimensions of institutional capacity (based on an existing measurement system of ten dimensions), volunteer organizations in Vienna, Austria, are evaluated. These dimensions include: role specification, dissemination, role availability, compensation and insurance, skill development, role recognition, role flexibility, accommodation and integration. As a group, organizations participating in the study have volunteer positions available for older adults (in other words, a high capacity in role availability) and have moderate capacity in role specification, dissemination, role recognition, role flexibility and accommodation. Lowest capacity was typically demonstrated in the areas of skill development, integration and compensation and insurance. Organizations can improve their programs by developing internal volunteer infrastructure and engaging in networking among organizations. Those involved with increasing volunteer engagement among older adults should be aware of non-standard social issues including polarization and increased marginalization of specific groups since social integration and higher socioeconomic status are generally positive determinants of volunteer engagement.
Host University: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU)
Contact Information: [email protected]
Institutional Capacity to Engage Older Adults for Volunteer Work in Vienna, Austria
Volunteering among older adults benefits both individuals and the community. Older adults bring considerable skills and professional experience to volunteer positions. Volunteering can provide a means for active aging and lifelong learning since it enables participation in broader society, can positively impact individual health and provides many opportunities for personal development.
Older adults are becoming an increasingly larger proportion of the overall population in Vienna, Austria. Older adult volunteer rates in Vienna are lower compared to the rest of Austria, however. Although this may be a result of broader social issues and the presence of extensive government services, this may also be a reflection of the ability of local volunteer organizations to promote volunteering. Some researchers and senior advocacy groups suggest that many organizations are currently not equipped to realize and capture the full potential of older adult volunteers.
This project studies the current institutional capacity of volunteer organizations in Vienna. Institutional capacity refers to an organization’s ability to provide volunteer roles and connect older adults to these opportunities. Using nine dimensions of institutional capacity (based on an existing measurement system of ten dimensions), volunteer organizations in Vienna, Austria, are evaluated. These dimensions include: role specification, dissemination, role availability, compensation and insurance, skill development, role recognition, role flexibility, accommodation and integration. As a group, organizations participating in the study have volunteer positions available for older adults (in other words, a high capacity in role availability) and have moderate capacity in role specification, dissemination, role recognition, role flexibility and accommodation. Lowest capacity was typically demonstrated in the areas of skill development, integration and compensation and insurance. Organizations can improve their programs by developing internal volunteer infrastructure and engaging in networking among organizations. Those involved with increasing volunteer engagement among older adults should be aware of non-standard social issues including polarization and increased marginalization of specific groups since social integration and higher socioeconomic status are generally positive determinants of volunteer engagement.