Sally Paulin

Previous research on Volunteering in aged care settings in Western Australia: Good practice during covid-19 and beyond (Paull & Paulin 2022) and The Jacaranda Project (Paull & Paulin 2020) highlighted several issues which merited further investigation. In addition, the Royal Commission on Aged Care Quality and Safety (CoA, 2021) made many recommendations to improve aged care provision in Australia including recognition of the importance of the contribution of volunteers in addressing social isolation and assistance with client activities in age care settings.

This report outlines a project involving a series of interviews and research workshops (held in person and online) over several months in 2023 and 2024 by the Project Team from Murdoch University. The project was designed to develop an understanding of the role of those who managed or coordinated volunteer activity in residential dementia care settings in Western Australia.

The outcomes of this research are set out in the following report.

Key findings in relation to managing volunteering in dementia care settings in Western Australia in 2023/24 are as follows:

Communications: Language used is important. In the interests of clarity for this report, we refer to volunteers/visitors, residents/clients and volunteer managers.

Complexity: There are several levels of cognitive impairment/dementia which require different levels of approach in managing volunteers in aged care settings.

Compliance: Government policy now requires aged care providers to have a volunteer program and for those volunteers to be well trained.

Organisational Policies: Ongoing recognition and support for volunteer managers and volunteer programs is vital.

Managing at a distance: Volunteer managers often manage at a distance from the site where volunteering takes place, adding a layer of complexity for both volunteers and managers.

First Language: Learning how to communicate with first language speakers is important and resources to assist such as advice on talking to someone with dementia which may be useful for volunteer involving organisations to offer to their volunteers in dementia care settings.

Training: For both volunteer managers and volunteers. The nature and volume of training is a delicate balance, not only to identify how much is enough, but also to meet compliance and motivational needs.

Waste is endemic in all parts of the globe and with little likelihood of major reductions in consumption in the short term, authorities are examining ways in which the waste stream can be better managed, resources maximised and landfill replaced with what are considered to be better environmental solutions. Agenda 21 states that “future waste programmes should take maximum advantage of resource efficient approaches to the control of wastes. These activities should be carried out in conjunction with public education programmes”(United Nations 1992, Agenda 21, Chap 20, S16.). As part of this process, some authorities have deliberately chosen to incorporate community involvement and education in the decision making process for what is coming to be known as ‘resource recovery’. This paper will describe the community ‘engagement’ process undertaken by a metropolitan regional council in Perth, Western Australia as part of their Resource Recovery Project.