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Influence of Personality Types on Sustainable Hospice Volunteer Work Hyun Jung, Doo 1 , Mihye, Kim 2 Department of Nursing, JinJu Helalth College, 51 Uibyeong-ro, Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 52655, Republic of Korea, [email protected] Department of Nursing, Cheongam College, Green 1641 Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, 540-743, Republic of Korea, [email protected] Abstract. The purpose of this study is to identify and categorize the types and differences of long-term hospice volunteer workers’ personalities. The Q-methodology was used for the study. 37 hospice volunteers participated. As a result, the cards containing 45 Q-statements were each placed in 9-point scale sorting table. The data that was gathered through coding was analyzed by PC QUANL program. Four types of personalities were identified for long-term hospice volunteers. They were Compassionate, Enjoying, Sincere, and Empowerment types. The results of this study can serve as the basic data for developing hospice volunteer organization and management programs that consider the characteristics of hospice volunteers. Keywords: Personality, Hospice, Q-Methodology, Volunteer 1 Introduction With the recent directional refinement of Korea’s policies on hospice palliative care, there is an increasing interest in the role and management of hospice volunteers [1]. The members of hospice teams include people from a variety of professions such as medical care, clergy, social worker, nutritionist, therapist, and counselor, where volunteer workers account for the largest proportion [3]. It is important for volunteers to provide continuous and long-term volunteer activities because short term activity or frequent change in hospice volunteer workers not only has a direct impact on the management and operation of hospice teams, but it is also a negative influence on maintaining the family structure of the patients and their families. However, there are currently not enough studies on hospice volunteer groups or studies on the sustainability of volunteer activity provided by volunteers. Therefore, it is necessary to identify what types of characteristics are associated with current volunteer workers who have been providing continuous volunteer activities for a long time. The reason for focusing on the personalities of the volunteers in this study is 1 * Corresponding Author : HyunJung,Doo E-mail.: prof.hjdoo@gmail.com, Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.128 (Healthcare and Nursing 2016), pp.98-103 http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/astl.2016.128.20 ISSN: 2287-1233 ASTL Copyright © 2016 SERSC

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Influence of Personality Types on Sustainable

Hospice Volunteer Work

Hyun Jung, Doo1, Mihye, Kim2

Department of Nursing, JinJu Helalth College, 51 Uibyeong-ro, Jinju-si,

Gyeongsangnam-do, 52655, Republic of Korea, [email protected]

Department of Nursing, Cheongam College, Green 1641

Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, 540-743, Republic of Korea, [email protected]

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to identify and categorize the types and

differences of long-term hospice volunteer workers’ personalities. The Q-methodology

was used for the study. 37 hospice volunteers participated. As a result, the cards

containing 45 Q-statements were each placed in 9-point scale sorting table. The data that

was gathered through coding was analyzed by PC QUANL program. Four types of

personalities were identified for long-term hospice volunteers. They were

Compassionate, Enjoying, Sincere, and Empowerment types. The results of this study

can serve as the basic data for developing hospice volunteer organization and

management programs that consider the characteristics of hospice volunteers.

Keywords: Personality, Hospice, Q-Methodology, Volunteer

1 Introduction

With the recent directional refinement of Korea’s policies on hospice palliative care,

there is an increasing interest in the role and management of hospice volunteers [1].

The members of hospice teams include people from a variety of professions such as

medical care, clergy, social worker, nutritionist, therapist, and counselor, where

volunteer workers account for the largest proportion [3]. It is important for volunteers

to provide continuous and long-term volunteer activities because short term activity or

frequent change in hospice volunteer workers not only has a direct impact on the

management and operation of hospice teams, but it is also a negative influence on

maintaining the family structure of the patients and their families.

However, there are currently not enough studies on hospice volunteer groups or

studies on the sustainability of volunteer activity provided by volunteers. Therefore, it

is necessary to identify what types of characteristics are associated with current

volunteer workers who have been providing continuous volunteer activities for a long

time. The reason for focusing on the personalities of the volunteers in this study is

1* Corresponding Author : HyunJung,Doo

E-mail.: [email protected],

Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.128 (Healthcare and Nursing 2016), pp.98-103

http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/astl.2016.128.20

ISSN: 2287-1233 ASTL Copyright © 2016 SERSC

because personalities are the psychological attributes such as attitude, emotion,

thinking, perception, and methods that describe human tendencies. In others words,

the understanding of personalities is the systematic identification of diverse

psychological phenomenon that generally appear when people adapt to different

environments, which enables correct understanding of human behavior [4].

Up to now, there have been previous studies related to the importance of activities,

degree of implementation, and activity analysis perceived by hospice volunteers [5,

6], but study by Kim [7] is the only study related to which hospice volunteers provide

continuous volunteer activity. Concerning studies on the volunteer activities other

than hospice volunteer activities, there only have been studies on the factors that

influence sustainability [8, 9].

The identification of personality traits of volunteers who perform long-term

volunteer service should be conducted prior to the development of supportive nursing

intervention in terms of nursing management for hospice volunteers. The results can

serve as a basic data for developing intervention on organization and management of

long-term hospice volunteers.

2 Method

This study is an exploratory study that applies Q-methodology in order to identify the

personality types and characteristics of long-term hospice volunteers.

1) Configuration of Q-population and Q-sample

In-depth interview and open questionnaire were used to extract Q-population using

documents in order to identify the personality types of long-term hospice volunteers.

The contents of the questions included questions such as “What type of personality do

you have” and “What is your personality trait that allows you to perform long-term

volunteer service?”

2) P-sample

In order to organize the Q-population, the subjects of in-depth interviews were

hospice volunteers who have been providing service for more than __ years. The

study was conducted on 50 long-term hospice volunteers from April __ to __ 30,

2013.

Statements that had fundamentally the same meaning within the gathered

personality types were combined into one category, and 45 statements that had the

highest distinction ability and were different from statements on personality were

derived as the Q-sample <Table 2>. The purpose and procedures of this study were

explained to the study subjects prior to gathering data and consent was obtained

orally. Also, anonymity and use of interview contents only for the purpose of the

study were guaranteed.

3) Q-sorting and data analysis method

Concerning Q-sorting, the 45 statements of the study subjects that were selected as

the Q-sample were categorized by 9-point scale by selecting questions according to

the degree of each person’s opinion from strong agreement (agree) to strong

disagreement (disagree). Here, forced-normal distribution was used according to the

Q-methodology in order to keep the opinions close to normal distribution. The

Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.128 (Healthcare and Nursing 2016)

Copyright © 2016 SERSC 99

subjects were asked to write the reasons for selecting 9 statements (+4, -4) that are at

the end of each extreme.

4 Results

The total variable of perceived type of hospice volunteers’ personalities was 57.79%,

where type 1 was 10.57%, type 2 was 5.40%, type 3 was 4.85%, and type 4 was

4.53%.

There was a total of 15 subjects who belonged to type 1. They were warmhearted

people who liked to spend time with the patients’ families and volunteer members,

and they believed they always have to be true to themselves and others. The

statements that showed the highest agreement by type 1 subjects were found to be in

the order of “I enjoy creating warm atmosphere where people can help each other,”

“Sincerity is very important to me,” etc.

The respondent number 32 (factor weight 2.4307) who represent type 1 and people

belonging to type 1 categorized through interviews emphasized sincerity and

consideration of others. In addition, it was found that they were happy and enjoyed

themselves when they provided care to patients. Type 1 was named as the

“Compassionate Type” from the fact that they value consideration, love, and care for

others.

Type 2 is people who have strong passion and enjoy their lives. The statements that

showed the highest agreement by type 2 subjects were in the order of “I like myself,”

“I think I enjoy my life,” and “I think I am a passionate person,” etc.

The respondent number 4 (factor weight 1.6998) who represent type 2 and people

belonging to type 2 categorized through interview results said they would not be able

to continue volunteer work if they did not enjoy it and they believed volunteers must

apply the areas that they enjoy in life to volunteer activities. Type 2 was named as

the “Enjoying Type” because they feel enjoyment from volunteer activities and

perceive the enjoyment as the source of sustainable volunteer activities.

Type 3 is people who value honesty and sincerity in life and they can play the role

of a third party mediator well. The statements that showed the highest agreement by

Advanced Science and Technology Letters Vol.128 (Healthcare and Nursing 2016)

Copyright © 2016 SERSC 101

type 3 subjects were in the order of “I believe I have to be true to myself,” “When I

see something wrong, I believe I have to fix the problem,” etc. The respondent

number 7 (factor weight 1.5195) who represent type 3 and people belonging to type 3

categorized through interview results were found to keep the promises they had made

with their patients such as appointment dates at all costs. In addition, they don’t miss

any meetings or events with volunteers and continuously conduct volunteer activities.

Type 3 was named as the “Sincere Type” because they made efforts with the belief

that sincerity is a necessity for hospice volunteers.

Type 4 is people who perceive themselves as the main subjects of activities and

feel responsible for the operation and management of volunteer activities. The

statements that showed the highest agreement by type 4 subjects were in the order of

“What others think of me is important to me,” “People view me as a competitive

person,” etc. The respondent number 24 (factor weight 2.8213) who represent type 4

and people belonging to type 4 categorized through interview results were found to be

able to manage performances and results of volunteer activities well. They believe the

gathering and evaluation of results from the number of registered patients and

families to various events at hospice centers are important, and they participate in

relevant tasks with interest. Type 4 was named as the “Empowerment Type” because

they actively participate in the operation of volunteer organizations and attempt to

operate and manage the results as the main subjects of volunteer organizations.

5 Conclusions

The results of study in significant in that it is not a quantitative measurement of long-

term hospice volunteers’ personalities, but a study on how they objectively perceived

themselves. Based on the results of the study, the following can be proposed. As this

was a study that identified the personality types of long-term hospice volunteers, there

should be further studies on the management of volunteers that reflect the

characteristics of each type and type of support requested. It is necessary to develop

strategies to improve the adaptation of long-term hospice volunteers.

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