Virtual Volunteering, Community Support and Self-Care in Chinese Communities in Canada

Background and Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in restrictions on the use of physical places to reduce the risk of infection. Individual and organizational activities have to be transitioned from physical places to virtual spaces. The impact of this transition has been so far reaching, significantly altering the way in which social services and community activities, represented by virtual volunteering, are expressed and engaged in the post-pandemic era.

One such organization is Chinese Volunteer Association in Canada (CVAC), based in Montreal, Canada. It has mobilized volunteers to work within the Chinese communities across Canada to mitigate the challenges brought about by the pandemic. The virtual volunteering program launched by CVAC has connected people in different places and optimized opportunities for the physical and mental health of those in need as well as volunteers themselves.

Our study aims to explore the link between environment and health mediated by the virtual volunteering program, and to discuss the implications of virtual volunteering in combination with offline volunteering in community support in the post-pandemic era.

Methods: The CVAC assisted in the participant recruitment with a purposive sampling strategy. We recruited 21 participants with diverse backgrounds, including age, gender, roles and responsibilities in the virtual volunteering program team. They participated in an individual interview lasting one to two hours, all of which followed a semi-structured interview guide centered around topics like volunteering experiences, impacts, and understanding of volunteering. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded thematically using NVivo qualitative software, guided by the principles of grounded theory.

Findings: Our data shows that the interpersonal interactions through this virtual program helped the participants deal with loneliness and boost their mental health. The social network established in this virtual program also provided the participants with social support when they faced difficulties. Moreover, some activities like practicing Tai Ji, yoga, dancing, and singing facilitated their physical health. Some participants not only learnt various skills and improved themselves during this time but also were involved as mentors. Participants increased self-efficacy through reciprocal role transformation.

Conclusions: Our data shows participants demonstrated different levels of resilience when the environment has been changing. Situating virtual volunteering as the center of people’s health in the environment, our findings suggest people gain informational, instrumental, and emotional support through virtual volunteering. Such programs provide positive influences on people's physical and mental health. Future research should examine the experiences of individuals from other ethnic groups and other settings to further supplement this study.