Volunteering is often considered with people with mental health problems as a route to social inclusion and paid employment. In order to gain access to volunteering opportunities, liaison is required with voluntary organisations and their representatives, who are known as recruiters.
This qualitative study explored the views of nine recruiters of volunteers, focusing on their perspectives on mental health problems and drawing on their experiences of recruiting people with mental health problems. The aim was to inform recommendations for strategies that might improve future placements. A purposive sample of nine recruiters from a London borough participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
The findings suggest that volunteer organisations reflect wider experiences of stigma and social exclusion within society. Although some recruiters attempted to be accommodating, significant barriers existed and led to a system of occupational apartheid. Overcoming this situation requires partnerships between occupational therapists, service users and voluntary organisations, working closely to secure a more inclusive place in society for people with mental health problems.
BalandinSLlewellynGDewABallinL (2006) ‘We couldn't function without volunteers’: volunteering with a disability, the perspective of not-for-profit agencies. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 29 (2), 131–36.
2.
BeresfordP (2005) Social approaches to madness and distress: user perspectives and user knowledge. In: TewJ, ed. Social perspectives in mental health: developing social models to understand and work with mental distress. London: Jessica Kingsley, 32–52.
ChristiansenCHTownsendEA (2004) Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
College of Occupational Therapists (2006) Recovering ordinary lives: the strategy for occupational therapy in mental health services 2007–2017: a vision for the next ten years. London: COT.
6.
CreekJ (2003) Occupational therapy defined as a complex intervention. London: College of Occupational Therapists.
7.
CresswellJW (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
FarrellCBryantW (2009) Voluntary work for adults with mental health problems: a route to inclusion? A review of the literature. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72 (4), 163–73.
10.
FinlayL (1999) Applying phenomenology in research: problems, principles and practice. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62 (7), 299–306.
11.
HarrisonDSellersA (2008) Occupation for mental health and social inclusion. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71 (5), 216–19.
12.
HollowayI, ed (2005) Qualitative research in health care. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
13.
Institute for Volunteering Research (2003) Volunteering for mental health: a survey for volunteering by people with experience of mental ill health. A report for the National Centre for Volunteering Research. London: Institute for Volunteering Research.
14.
Institute for Volunteering Research (2004) Volunteering for all? Exploring the link between volunteering and social exclusion. London: Institute for Volunteering Research. Available at: http://www.lvr.org.uk/socialexclusion/fullreport.pdf Accessed on 10.10.06.
15.
KronenbergFPollardN (2005) Overcoming occupational apartheid. In: KronenbergFAlgadoSSPollardN, eds. Occupational therapy without borders: learning from the spirit of survivors. Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
MillerKDSchleienSJRiderCHallCRocheMWorsleyJ (2002) Inclusive volunteering: benefits to participants and community. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 36 (3), 247–59.
18.
MIND (2004) Not alone? Isolation and mental distress. London: MIND.
19.
NagleSCookJ ValiantPolatajkoHJ (2002) I'm doing as much as I can: occupational choices of persons with a severe and persistent mental illness. Journal of Occupational Science, 9 (2), 72–81.
20.
PearsonG (2000) Madness and moral panics. In: EastmanNPeayJ, eds. Law without enforcement. Oxford: Hart, 159–71.
21.
PollardNKronenbergFSakellariouD (2009) Occupational apartheid. In: PollardNSakellariouDKronenbergF, eds. A political practice of occupational therapy. Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
22.
ReadJHaslamNSayceLDaviesE (2006) Prejudice and schizophrenia: a review of the ‘mental illness is an illness like any other’ approach. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 114, 303–18.
23.
RebeiroKL (2001) Enabling occupation: the importance of an affirming environment. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68 (2), 80–89.
24.
RebeiroKLAllenJ (1998) Volunteerism as occupation. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65 (5), 279–85.
25.
ReynoldsF (2003) Exploring the meanings of artistic occupation for women living with chronic illness: a comparison of template and interpretative phenomenological approaches to analysis. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66 (12), 551–58.
26.
RitchieJLewisJ, eds (2003) Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. London: Sage.
27.
SayceL (2000) From psychiatric patient to citizen: overcoming discrimination and social exclusion. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
28.
SilvermanD (2000) Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook. London: Sage.
29.
SKILL: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities (2005) Shaping the debate: a report on access into volunteering for disabled people. London: SKILL.
30.
SmithJAJarmanMOsbornM (1999) Doing interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: MurrayMChamberlainK, eds. Qualitative health psychology: theories and methods. London: Sage.
31.
Social Exclusion Unit (2004) Mental health and social exclusion. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
32.
StilesWB (1993) Quality control in qualitative research. Clinical Psychology Review, 13 (6), 593–618.
33.
TewJ, ed (2005) Social perspectives in mental health: developing social models to understand and work with mental distress. London: Jessica Kingsley.
34.
ThornicroftG (2006) Shunned: discrimination against people with mental illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
35.
TownsendEWilcockA (2004) Occupational justice and client-centred practice: a dialogue in progress. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71 (2), 75–87.
36.
WhitefordG (2000) Occupational deprivation: global challenge in the millennium. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63 (5), 200–04.
37.
WilcockAA (2001) Occupational science: the key to broadening horizons. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64 (8), 412–17.
38.
WilsonJ (2000) Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 215–40.
39.
World Health Organisation (2001) International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva: WHO.
