My Epic Journey: A Discussion on Continual Participation in Voluntary Service of Male Seniors.

• Main Authors: LI, PEI-YI, 李佩怡
• Other Authors: CHANG, YING-CHEN
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/9gxz3f

碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 社會政策與社會工作學系 === 105 === The average lifespan of human has been increasing throughout the past decades. Volunteering, in response to the older population structure, has expanded from individual service to team work, and further to the extent of community service. The aim of the research is to analyze the development of participation in volunteering activities by male seniors. To this end, qualitative research methods are employed and five male senior volunteers, three supervisors are selected to be subjects via snowball sampling. They are later interviewed through semi-structured interview; the interview leads to profound understanding about current situation of male seniors’ participation in volunteering, and thus sheds a light on the underlying motivation for constant participation and how constant participation influenced their life. This research is composed of literature reviews and the discussion of relating issues of the need for male seniors volunteering. The discussion includes five inter-related aspects of current situation male senior volunteering: how and why they are motivated, the internal drive for constant participation, the health care for participants, the intuition and management of volunteering works. This analysis based on these five aspects provides a considerable understanding of current situation and shows how supervisors/managers of volunteering respond to male seniors’ constant participation. In the very end, suggestions regarding to improve and enhance the proportion of male seniors’ participation in volunteering are proposed. The research indicates that the male seniors who have life partners are more prone to participate in volunteering. Male senior volunteers break off from past life characters and realize self-fulfillment, learning how to provide service for others and improve themselves with the support of family, friends, and significant others. On this basis, it is recommended to enhance the interest of male seniors in volunteering, encouraging them to participate in various social activities, so as to help create a colorful elderly life.