Volunteering of Older Adults as Civic Engagement in the Field of Social Work

Santrauka

The ageing population is increasingly becoming the focus of research to find ways to empower the growing population of older people. This paper presents one of the themes of a qualitative study conducted in 2023: volunteering by older people as civic engagement in a social work context.
The aim of the research presented in the paper is to explain the specificity of the paradigmatic model of volunteering by older people as civic engagement. Objectives: 1) To describe the paradigm of volunteering by older people, explaining its structure and process. 2) To describe the paradigm of volunteering by older people as an expression of civic engagement, explaining its causal and contextual conditions. 3) Describe the volunteering model of older people as an expression of civic engagement, explaining the strategies and consequences of action. The study involved five older people, aged between 65 and 71, who volunteered in their community. The data were analysed using grounded theory coding methods proposed by Corbin and Straus: open coding and axial coding. Volunteering by older people is a popular form of civic engagement that benefits not only the community but also the volunteer. Older people’s civic participation is important in community institutions to meet community needs. It can not only contribute to well-being but also change the image of seniors as active citizens. Public and social policies can be shaped by encouraging this participation. While there are various reasons why people choose to volunteer,
the study shows that internal and external contextual conditions can have a significant impact on volunteering activities and interactions, especially for older people. Volunteering can have many positive consequences, such as a sense of fulfilment, well-being, respect from others, opportunities to socialise and material support. By implementing specific action and interaction strategies, older people can become an integral part of volunteering, contributing to the well-being of their community and helping others, even in times of difficult crises.