Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1387494
This article is part of the Research Topic Cognitive and Mental Health Improvement Under- and Post-COVID-19 View all 30 articles

Does Volunteering Decrease Burnout? Healthcare Professional and Student Perspectives on Burnout and Volunteering

Provisionally accepted
Tai Metzger Tai Metzger 1,2*Nathan Nguyen Nathan Nguyen 2Hillary Le Hillary Le 2Daisy Havo Daisy Havo 2Katherine Ngo Katherine Ngo 2Sebastian Lee Sebastian Lee 2Timmy Nguyen Timmy Nguyen 2Quynhanh Nguyen Quynhanh Nguyen 2Leyna Tran Leyna Tran 2Nathan Tong Nathan Tong 2Collin Le Collin Le 2Rebecca Dudovitz Rebecca Dudovitz 3
  • 1 Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, United States
  • 2 University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • 3 David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Burnout among healthcare providers is a significant crisis in our healthcare system, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to understand what motivates healthcare workers and students to volunteer in their community as well as examine how volunteering relates to burnout. These findings can help health organizations better meet the needs of healthcare workers, as well as provide insights for non-profits that rely on volunteer professionals. Methods: Healthcare providers (N = 8), graduate healthcare students (N=10), and undergraduate students (N=14) who volunteered at community health fairs completed the OLBI burnout assessment and an individual semi-structured interview to characterize their attitudes toward volunteering and its relationship with burnout. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a phenomenological approach, comparing themes across levels of burnout among providers and students. Results: Participants described that feeling burnt out decreased one's likelihood to volunteer, but also that volunteering prevented burnout. The OLBI scores showed that 79.2% and 20.8% of students were low and moderately burnt out respectively, and 87.5% and 12.5% of health professionals were low and moderately burnt out respectively. Students volunteered for professional development while healthcare professionals cited a desire for a change in their day-to-day work as a reason to volunteer. Both students and health professionals often volunteered because they wanted to make a difference, it made them feel good, and/or they felt a responsibility to volunteer. COVID-19 had a wide range of effects on burnout and motivations to volunteer.

    Keywords: COVID-19, volunteering, burnout, Community Health, Medical Education, physician shortage, Mental Health

    Received: 17 Feb 2024; Accepted: 01 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Metzger, Nguyen, Le, Havo, Ngo, Lee, Nguyen, Nguyen, Tran, Tong, Le and Dudovitz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tai Metzger, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.