Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients

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Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients
Kathryn L. Herbst-Damm, University of California, San Diego
James A. Kulik, University of California, San Diego

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ABSTRACT:

This study examines the possibility that volunteer support can influence how long terminally ill patients survive. Hospice patient files (N = 290) were coded for marital status and volunteer support condition, respectively, the latter on.the basis of whether visits from volunteers were requested and received (n = 94), requested but not received (n = 28), or neither requested nor received (n = 168). Baseline health, disease type, and demographic dimensions were comparable across support conditions. Results indicated that when a baseline health status effect was controlled for (p < .0002), patients in the volunteer support condition survived significantly longer than did patients in either unvisited condition (p < .0001). Neither marital status nor gender independently predicted survival time.

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Kathryn L. Herbst-Damm and James A. Kulik, "Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients" (2005). Health Psychology. 24 (2), pp. 225-229. Postprint available free at: http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/774

REQUIRED PUBLISHER STATEMENT:
This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.

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