Wellbeing Project
Helping to support and grow our Tribe so we can help more people in their time of need.
DRA is driven by our desire to help people:
- to help veterans grow beyond their service; and
- to help communities in their time of need.
We want to help more people and the Wellbeing Project is a critical step in achieving our goal.
Volunteer Wellbeing
Our disaster recovery work in Australian communities relies on the hard work and wellbeing of our people – our volunteers.
The DRA Tribe is made up of selfless individuals ready to serve vulnerable communities reeling from the impacts of overwhelming disasters. Our volunteer’s contribution of hard work, a friendly face and a helping hand is often the first time an impacted resident feels like there is hope.
We hear from our members that the volunteering experience is also giving them something back, in some cases volunteers report that being involved in DRA’s volunteering program has literally saved their life.
Our volunteers give selflessly and getting something back is not the reason why they volunteer, but they know that somehow, they are better for it.
We want a deeper understanding of the benefits of DRA’s volunteering program so we can help more people.
Volunteering helps volunteers
Disaster Relief Australia knows our volunteering program helps people and saves lives and we want to verify this through the “Wellbeing Pulse Check”. This will help us to:
Improve our volunteer program
a. Through data collection and subsequent high-level analysis of the volunteering program over a 12-month period.
b. High-level data analysis of the program will identify:
- Any areas where additional support is required.
- Positive elements to reinforce.
Make the experience better for our volunteers
- Implementation of recommendations that will impact members and their experience on a personal level.
- Support the growth of our Tribe.
- The Wellbeing Project will provide scientific rigor to validate the benefits of DRA’s volunteering program and will strengthen our ability to support more veterans and communities in their time of need, within a supportive culture that enables us to best act in service to each other and communities in need.
Assessing DRA’s volunteering program
DRA has partnered with Movember (who have funded the project) and SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) to allow us to assess our volunteering program through a Wellbeing Pulse Check, consisting of online surveys and informal interviews at regular intervals over a 12-month period.
The Wellbeing Pulse Check consist of 3 main components:
- Wellbeing Snapshot Surveys – short surveys conducted around specific volunteer touchpoints.
- Wellbeing Long-Term Surveys – in-depth surveys completed every 3 months for 1 year.
- Wellbeing Chat Sessions (informal interviews) and Focus Groups – in order to gain more in-depth insights into the impact of DRA’s volunteering program, one on one interviews and Focus Groups will be held with volunteers upon return from deployments.
For more information, please contact Cindy Wadsworth, the Project Manager for the Wellbeing Project at cindy.wadsworth@disasterreliefaus.org.
FAQ’s
Why is DRA doing an assessment of its volunteering program?
Do all volunteers have to participate?
How will the volunteering program be assessed?
1. Wellbeing Snapshot Surveys
2. Wellbeing Long-Term Surveys
3. Wellbeing Chat Sessions (informal interviews)
SAHMRI will use standardised and substantiated questions, that have been used in a number of Australian wellbeing studies, as the basis for the assessment of DRA’s volunteering program.