Kontakt 2008, 10(2):339-346 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2008.052

Voluntary activity of handicapped peopleHealth and Social Sciences

Katarína Bundzelová

Trnavská univerzita, Fakulta zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce, katedra misijnej prace a dobrovolnictva

In the contribution presented here, we consider the participation of handicapped people in voluntary activities, importance of these activities in the life of handicapped volunteers as well as advantages, which can the handicapped people enjoy thanks to their volunteer activity. We try to reveal the latent potential of the volunteer activities, which can also be considerably beneficial to handicapped people.
The target of our research was to find whether the participation of handicapped people in voluntary activities brings them a fulfilment of their lives and whether it helps them overcome restrictions resulting from their handicaps.
The research was implemented with the use of a method of a questionnaire and semi-standardized interview. The questionnaires and interviews were directly provided with handicapped volunteers as well as with professionals in places of their dwelling (in institutes) or in facilities, institutions where they have performed or perform their voluntary activities.
Our principal purpose was to demonstrate the voluntary activities of handicapped people, to propose foundation of regional volunteer centres, which would inter alia also pay their attention to handicapped volunteers, and also to show the volunteer activities as an approach, which can help the handicapped people to live in a worthy way of life.
The most important knowledge we acquired in the course of the research was that the handicapped people would be willing to participate in volunteer activities within their free time (however, they are lacking information; they do not know, where they could be engaged) and that more than half the number of people with health handicaps participating in volunteer activities confirmed that this activity helps them overcome restrictions resulting from their handicaps.

Keywords: volunteer activities; health handicap; non-profit sector (i.e. third sector), non-profit organizations; independence; integration

Received: September 2, 2008; Accepted: October 3, 2008; Prepublished online: December 17, 2008; Published: December 17, 2009  Show citation