Individuals who volunteer their time and energy to AIDS-related work are the focus of this study. Using conceptual models taken from the stress and stress-resistance field, prospective and longitudinal designs, and a subject group made up of volunteers from the largest and best known AIDS volunteer organization, the investigators aim: (1) To document the experiences of AIDS volunteers as they unfold and change from volunteers' initial training sessions through the eighteen months that follow. (2) To identify those factors that maximize the benefits to be gained from AIDS volunteer work and those that minimize the costs, i.e., that buffer the consequences of the stress of volunteer work. (3) To mount and evaluate an intervention program to maximize the benefits to be gained from volunteer work and to minimize the costs.
| Cassel, J B; Ouellette, S (1995) A typology of AIDS volunteers. AIDS Educ Prev 7:80-90 |
| Ouellette, S C; Cassel, J B; Maslanka, H et al. (1995) GMHC volunteers and the challenges and hopes for the second decade of AIDS. AIDS Educ Prev 7:64-79 |
