Proven power: 500+ evidenced outcomes reveal how volunteers transform healthcare

HELPFORCE has achieved a remarkable milestone by having produced more than 500 evidenced outcomes that demonstrate the transformative impact of healthcare volunteering.

This unique body of evidence specifically examines how volunteering interventions impact patients, staff, volunteers, and healthcare organisations.

Key findings reveal widespread benefits of volunteering in healthcare:

The comprehensive research involving 65 organisations and 4,666 individual participants reveals powerful insights into the value of volunteering. Key findings include:

• 86% of healthcare staff agreed that volunteers improve the quality of service they can provide

• 79% of people receiving care agreed that volunteers helped reduce their anxiety

• 91% of volunteers said volunteering gives them a sense of purpose

“While we’ve always known that volunteering greatly benefits our society, there hasn’t been a comprehensive evidence bank showcasing the impact of specific volunteering interventions – until now,” said Amerjit Chohan, Helpforce CEO. “This is precisely why we’ve dedicated the past four years to working alongside healthcare and voluntary sector organisations, not only to deliver effective volunteering programmes but also to carefully record the evidence of their impact.”

Evidence drives funding and expansion

The evidence gathered is already creating tangible benefits for organisations.

For instance, the Northern Care Alliance in Greater Manchester has used findings to expand its Dining Companion initiative across the entire trust, whilst Kingston Hospital's Falls Prevention Service extended its programme to support care home residents beyond hospital walls.

“Perhaps most notably, the VCSE (Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise) in successfully secured £770,000 over three years from Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly Integrated Care Board to continue funding its community hub models, showcasing the tangible benefits of evidence-based volunteering programmes," added Amerjit.

Rigorous methodology ensures quality

Evidenced outcomes provide decision makers with detailed insights that paint a clear picture of volunteers' impact on both people and systems. Helpforce's Insight & Impact team has developed a sophisticated evaluation framework, working diligently with our partners to identify compelling and promising evidence that demonstrates intervention impact, whilst adhering to the latest best practices in data collection and evaluation.

Amerjit continued: "For data to qualify as evidenced outcomes, it must meet stringent criteria, including appropriate sample sizes and robust data collection methods. This rigorous approach ensures our evidenced outcomes accurately reflect the genuine difference volunteers make within healthcare organisations."

Elaborating on how the organisation achieved over 500 evidenced outcomes within four years, Amerjit explained: "Our success in gathering such substantial evidence stems from regularly updating our practices, utilising technology, and developing standardised templates for data collection and evaluation reporting. Furthermore, our collaboration with numerous partners on large-scale initiatives, such as our far-reaching ‘Back to Health’ and ‘Volunteer to Career’ programmes, enables us to engage with high volumes of individuals to understand volunteers' impact."

A significant milestone for healthcare volunteering

Reflecting on the significance of this milestone for the healthcare volunteering sector, Amerjit observed: "This achievement represents excellent progress for the sector, demonstrating that healthcare organisations increasingly recognise the importance of evaluating service impact.

“This milestone shows that quantifying volunteer hours is now just one element in a more comprehensive evaluation framework. By implementing a well-structured assessment system and identifying relevant data points to measure impact, healthcare organisations can now make more informed, evidence-based decisions when it comes to investing in volunteer-led programmes.”