Eastern Visayas: profile of the region's volunteer outreach worker

Initiatives Popul. 1983;7(1):40-1.

Abstract

PIP: Volunteer outreach workers in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) who tend to remain in the Philippine Population Program are able to plan for the welfare of the family, are seriously concerned about the welfare of the community, are traditional in their beliefs about family decision making, are moderately innovative, and are relatively dissatisfied with community life. The research report submitted to the regional office of the Commission on Population (Popcom) by the Regional Research Center for Population, Leyte State College, indicated that Popcom recognizes the importance of community based fieldworkers in the delivery of its services. The study was conducted in line with efforts to improve the system of recruiting volunteer workers and to develop a more effective service delivery scheme. The researchers randomly selected a representative sample of volunteer workers--265 active and 86 inactive--from the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, Western Samar and Northern Samar, the subprovince of Biliran, and the cities of Tacloban, Ormoc, and Calbayog. The active volunteer worker of Eastern Visayas is female, between 36-40 years old, married, and the mother of 3-5 children. She also considers the size of her family to be "just right." The volunteer worker believes the father is the prinicipal decision maker in the family and that parents should always be consulted on matters concerning their children. The inactive volunteer worker is also female, in the same age bracket, married, and with 3-5 children, and she also does not want to have additional children. She is more innovative and more receptive to change than the active volunteer worker. She is more satisfied with community life, is modern in her beliefs as to who is the authority in the family, and believes that children also should have a part in making family decisions. Mobility in terms of residence is an important factor in the decision of the volunteer worker to remain in or drop out of the program.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Asia
  • Asia, Southeastern
  • Attitude*
  • Behavior
  • Community Health Workers*
  • Decision Making*
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Developing Countries
  • Family Characteristics
  • Family Planning Services
  • Health
  • Health Personnel*
  • Health Planning
  • Marital Status
  • Organization and Administration
  • Philippines
  • Population Characteristics
  • Psychology
  • Volunteers*