POS0091-PARE VALUES, SOCIAL AND UNDERSTANDING DIMENSIONS DRIVE LUPUS VOLUNTEERS’ MOTIVATIONS
Authors: A. Cornet, A. Sluijmers, A. Somers, J. Andersen, Z. Karakikla-Mitsakou
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2024)

<h3>Background:</h3> Many patient organisations are increasingly struggling to attract and retain volunteers to work on the organisation's key missions. Understanding what motivates them is a first step to better meet their aspirations and retain them to support our important roles. <h3>Objectives:</h3> To identify relevant drivers of volunteers' motivations across Lupus Europe's member organisations. <h3>Methods:</h3> A short survey has been distributed through Lupus Europe's volunteers and members networks asking for a short free-text description of what motivate(d) them to volunteer for a lupus patient organisation, as well as their role and level of volunteering work. Answers were manually categorised to the different Clary et al. (1998) functional motivators of engagement and frequency was analysed. <h3>Results:</h3> 111 individual statements were obtained allowing the identification of 214 underlying individual motivation drivers. -The "Values" dimension unsurprisingly topped the list with 56.8% of participants highlighting it, most often in the generic form of "a desire to help others". While it is the top driver of all roles (except Patient Advisory Network (PAN), it has a higher impact on Advocacy roles (88.9%), Peer-to-peer (P2P) (65%) and leadership roles (62.1%). -The "Social" dimension (being part of a group, connecting with people) comes second with 32.4%, mostly due to the PAN where it reaches 55.6%, compared to 21.6% in other roles. -A similar pattern is observed for "Understanding" (having opportunities to grow knowledge) averaging 31.5% across all participants, reaching 50% in the PAN group and 45% for Peer-to-Peer roles, but only averaging 14.8% in other roles. -The overall "Protective dimension" was mentioned by 20.7% of participants, with limited fluctuations by roles. The type of "Protection" considered is however very different between PAN roles where it takes a more physical dimension (growing knowledge to better fight my lupus, 25%) compared, at the other end of the spectrum to advocates that view it under a more psychological dimension (turning my disease's negative into positive, 22.2%). The other roles have a close to 50/50 split between these 2 extremes. -Enhancement (feeling better about myself, self-esteem) is only mentioned by 12.6% of participants. It has low appeal to most roles, but is present in 33.3% of Advocates, and 16.7% of PAN members. -Finally, the Career dimension (acquiring new skills that I can possibly use elsewhere) were also mentioned by 12.6% of participants, but this was more in Board and organisation support (Administrative, organising events, …) roles. The volunteers' motivation types also impact their level of engagement, measured in reported estimated hours of volunteering per month (averaging 25.4hrs amongst participants): People motivated by "values" volunteer 32hrs/month vs. 14 for those that aren't; Volunteers with "physical protective" motivation volunteer 31hrs vs. an average 15 for those with "Psychological protective" function". Volunteers displaying "Social, Career or Enhancement" motivations perform 15-17hrs/month on average vs. 27 for those less affected by such motivators. From those volunteers that deliver most hours, all are motivated by values, and none mentioned career or enhancement. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> This analysis of (lupus) volunteers motivation highlights opportunities to tailor Motivation talks to volunteering types to maximise their engagement. The findings also support the development of targeted motivational support structures, potentially augmenting volunteer satisfaction and commitment. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> [1] Clary et al. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1516-1530. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1516. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> None of the authors has direct conflict of Interest. However, LUPUS EUROPE is funded mostly by grants or donations from Pharmaceutical Companies (Astra Zeneca, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Galapagos, GSK, Idorsia, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Otsuka, Roche, UCB), none of which exceeds 20% of total funds collected, and none having a say on the content of our studies. <h3>Disclosure of Interests:</h3> <b>None declared.</b>