The Partnership Between Social Workers And Old-Aged Volunteers

With the acceleration of the process of population aging,the proportion of the elderly population in the total population of the society is constantly increasing.For cities like Shanghai with a high degree of aging,the challenges are even more severe.The elderly are a group of resources that can be fully developed.They have a wealth of social experience.The imprint of the age also makes older people willing to participate in society and contribute to society.Encouraging older people to participate in voluntary services in the community not only enables them to leave their homes,is conducive to the physical and mental health of the elderly,but also allows older people to turn from social burdens into active participants in social development.Social workers need active participation of elderly volunteers in the smooth development of community activities.Maintaining the partnership between social workers and elderly volunteers has a positive effect on the active participation of elderly volunteers.This article discusses the relationship between social workers and elderly volunteer partners through qualitative research methods.Through the process of the life education project,the elderly volunteers are divided into active participation andpassive participation from the perspective of social participation.From the social worker recruitment and initiation of elderly volunteers,social worker incentives and maintenance of elderly volunteers,social worker processing and old age volunteer The three types of contradictions related to the analysis of these three aspects.In the first half of 2017,the author conducted an internship on the life education project,demand research,and project plans.Through in-depth interviews with social workers responsible for life education projects and eight elderly volunteers participating in the program,we also observed the 2017 life education program.For social workers recruiting and launching volunteers,active volunteers include three types: establishing a personal relationship,using the elderlypeople relationships,and taking the initiative for the elderly;volunteers who participate passively participate in neighborhood committees.The strategy for establishing partnerships is to share common interests and hobbies,to understand the needs of the elderly and provide corresponding services to create a situation that meets each otherinorder to leave a deep impression on the elderly.The foundation of the partnership between social workers and elderly volunteers is that social workers and volunteers have the same expectations.The old man satisfies a series of subjective and objective factors to promote his participation in volunteer services.The objective factors are mainly leisure time,physical and mental health,living in the neighborhood,and family members have no objection to it,and they have a long list of skills;subjective factors are the strong ability of the elderly to organize and mobilize,more understanding of volunteer services,and the role of party members as pioneers.In terms of social worker incentives and maintaining volunteer relationships,social workers motivate older volunteers by organizing internal incentives,social incentives,and self-motivation.The skills of maintaining partnerships include listening needs,timely feedback,team building,credit and respect for willingness.When social workers deal with various types of conflicts,they face different types of conflicts.There are different ways to cope with conflicts within the team.Conflicts within the team are mainly based on consultations between volunteers.If the consultation fails,the volunteers will leave the team.For the conflicts between volunteers and external organizations,social workers activelyhelped solve the problem by consolidating their partnership with volunteers.Finally,the measures for maintaining the partnership between social workers and elderly volunteers are further discussed,mainly including increasing the human resources development for social workers,strengthening the interaction between social workers of different ages and elderly volunteers,and promoting the spirit of volunteerism at the social levelin order to enhance therole of identity in elderly volunteers.