AIDS Volunteerism and Client Health:Exploring Community

描述(由申请者提供)：在艾滋病流行期间，志愿者 志愿服务组织在关心 艾滋病毒感染者和艾滋病患者(PWAS)和教育公众有关艾滋病毒的知识 疾病。拟议的研究建立在编程的基础上，并扩大了范围 研究团队之前在社会和心理方面的工作 艾滋病志愿服务发展的理论概念化嵌入 志愿者-PWA在更广泛的社区背景下帮助建立关系 受艾滋病毒影响的人。这种概念化强调的是资源、社会 支持、积极的认同和效率的提高 强烈的社区心理意识。建议的具体目标 合作研究是为了调查心理感觉在其中的作用 社区：(1)优化艾滋病服务招募新志愿者 组织(ASO)，(2)促进生理和心理功能 提高员工的满意度、有效性和持久性。 志愿者。两次大规模、协调、多地点、基于现场的干预 研究将系统地解决这些目标。在第一次干预中 研究表明，潜在的艾滋病志愿者将接受标准的招募 消息或使社区背景和联系突出的消息 志愿服务。假设社区信息将有效地 促进艾滋病志愿服务，以态度、意图和实际情况来衡量 志愿者行为，特别是在以前表现出 通过参与筹款步行来支持ASO的倾向。在一个 一项实验性客户服务计划的第二次关联干预研究， 在ASOS的志愿者和客户PWA将被随机分配到以下其中之一 三个条件：(1)标准治疗控制条件，(2)6个月 旨在建立心理社区感的结构化干预， 或(3)为期6个月的注意力控制条件。测量心理和心理状态 患者PWA的身体功能以及患者的态度和表现 预计志愿者将展示该技术的直接和长期影响。 社区干预。这种多层次的协作方式-- 在个人志愿者和医务工作者协会层面审查艾滋病志愿服务 以及在组织、社交网络和社区的背景下-- 增加对自愿帮助的理论理解的潜力 人际关系和心理上的社区意识。这项研究还有 有可能对加强 志愿者招募计划的有效性，促进心理 和身体健康，提高满意度和有效性 志愿者组成的团队。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Throughout the HIV epidemic, volunteers and volunteer service organizations have played critical roles in caring for persons living with HIV and AIDS (PWAs) and in educating the public about HIV disease. The proposed research builds programmatically on and expands the scope of the research team's previous work on the social and psychological aspects of AIDS volunteerism to develop a theoretical conceptualization that embeds volunteer-PWA helping relationships in the broader context of the community of people affected by HIV. This conceptualization stresses the resources, social support, positive identification, and increases in efficacy that result from a strong psychological sense of community. The specific aims of the proposed collaborative research are to investigate the roles of psychological sense of community in: (1) optimizing the recruitment of new volunteers by AIDS service organizations (ASOs), (2) promoting the physical and psychological functioning of PWAs, and (3) increasing the satisfaction, effectiveness, and persistence of volunteers. Two large scale, coordinated, multi-site, field based intervention studies will systematically address these aims. In the first intervention study, potential AIDS volunteers will receive either a standard recruitment message or one that makes salient the community context and connection of volunteering. It is hypothesized that the community message will effectively promote AIDS volunteerism, as measured by attitudes, intentions, and actual volunteer behavior, especially among individuals who have previously shown a propensity to support the ASO through participation in a fundraising walk. In a second linked intervention study of an experimental client service program, pairs of volunteers and client PWAs in ASOs will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) a standard treatment control condition, (2) a 6-month structured intervention designed to build a psychological sense of community, or (3) a 6-month attention control condition. Measures of the psychological and physical functioning of client PWAs and of the attitudes and performance of volunteers are expected to demonstrate the immediate and long-term effects of the community intervention. This multi-level collaborative approach -- examining AIDS volunteerism at the level of individual volunteers and PWAs as well as in the context of organizations, social networks, and community -- has the potential to increase theoretical understanding of voluntary helping relationships and psychological sense of community. The research also has the potential to contribute to the practically important issues of enhancing the effectiveness of volunteer recruitment programs, promoting the psychological and physical health of PWAs, and increasing the satisfaction and effectiveness of volunteers.