BACKGROUND Volunteers play a significant role in supporting hospice and palliative care in Africa, but little is known about the types of volunteers, their motivations and roles in service delivery. METHODS Palliative care experts from 30 African countries were invited to participate in an online survey, conducted in English and French, that consisted of 58 questions on: socio-demographics, the activities, motivation and coordination of volunteers, and an appraisal of recent developments in volunteering. The questionnaire was pre-tested in Uganda. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively with SPSS v22; answers on open-ended questions were analysed using content analysis. RESULTS Twenty-five respondents from 21 countries replied to the questionnaire. The typical volunteer was reported to be a female aged between 30 and 50 years. Volunteer roles included, among others: direct patient assistance, providing psychosocial / spiritual support, and assisting patients' families. Respondents considered altruism, civic engagement and personal gain (for a professional career) as volunteers' most significant motivational drivers. One in two respondents noted that recruiting volunteers is easy, and cooperation with the communities was often mentioned as helpful. Trainings mostly occurred before the first assignment, with topics covering the palliative care concept, care, psychosocial support and team work. Half of respondents described recent overall volunteering developments as positive, while the other half described problems primarily with financing and motivation. Most volunteers received transportation allowances or bicycles; some received monetary compensation. CONCLUSIONS The findings show a wide range of volunteering in palliative care. We identified volunteers as typically 30-50 years old, non-professional females, motivated by altruism, a sense of civic engagement and personal gain. Palliative care services benefit from volunteers who take on high workloads and are close to the patients. The main challenges for volunteer programmes are funding and the long-term motivation of volunteers.

中文翻译：

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“我们从善良的社区成员那里招募志愿者”-对整个非洲姑息治疗志愿者的一项探索性研究。

背景技术志愿者在支持非洲的临终关怀和姑息治疗中起着重要的作用，但是对于志愿者的类型，动机和服务提供的了解很少。方法来自30个非洲国家的姑息治疗专家应邀参加了以英语和法语进行的在线调查，该调查包括58个问题，包括：社会人口统计学，志愿者的活动，动机和协调以及对艾滋病近期发展的评估。志愿服务。问卷已在乌干达进行了预先测试。使用SPSS v22对定量数据进行描述性分析；使用内容分析来分析开放式问题的答案。结果来自21个国家的25位受访者回答了问卷。据报道，典型的志愿者是年龄在30至50岁之间的女性。志愿者角色包括：直接的患者援助，提供社会心理/精神支持以及协助患者的家庭。受访者认为利他，公民参与和个人收益（对于职业生涯）是志愿者最重要的动机驱动力。十分之一的受访者指出，招募志愿者很容易，与社区的合作通常被认为是有帮助的。培训大多在第一次任务之前进行，主题涵盖姑息治疗的概念，护理，社会心理支持和团队合作。一半的受访者将近期总体志愿服务发展描述为积极的，而另一半则主要将筹资和激励问题描述为问题。大多数志愿者获得了交通津贴或自行车。一些人得到了金钱补偿。结论研究结果显示了广泛的姑息治疗自愿者。我们将志愿人员确定为通常30至50岁的非职业女性，他们的动机是利他主义，公民参与感和个人成就感。姑息治疗服务得益于工作量大且靠近患者的志愿者。志愿者计划的主要挑战是资金和志愿者的长期动机。