From that initial investment, volunteering has become an integral part of life at St Joseph’s. Volunteers bring friendship, conversation, shared interests and meaningful connection to people living with dementia. Working alongside the St Joseph’s team, they support cognitive stimulation, community cafés, cinema clubs, social activities, intergenerational programmes and valuable one-to-one time with residents.

• More than 120 active volunteers support residents, Day Care Club members and community activities.
• Over 7,000 volunteer hours were contributed in a single year.
• St Joseph’s became the first nursing home in Ireland to achieve, and subsequently renew, the Investing in Volunteers Award, recognising excellence in volunteer involvement and management.

The programme’s impact has also been formally evaluated through Evaluating the Volunteer Impact in St Joseph’s Centre: A Mixed-Method Analysis, a research study undertaken in partnership with Dublin City University. The research involved 75 participants in the qualitative study and a further 59 volunteers through a dedicated survey. It found that volunteers:

• increase meaningful social engagement and help reduce loneliness
• create more opportunities for personalised, person-centred care
• provide reassurance and additional support for families and staff
• strengthen volunteers’ own wellbeing, mental health and understanding of dementia; and
• demonstrate how structured volunteer programmes can offer a scalable and cost-effective response to the growing demand for dementia care.

For residents, volunteers bring companionship, enjoyment and a greater sense of belonging. For families, they provide reassurance that loved ones have additional opportunities for engagement and connection. Their contribution also supports the wider care team to create more individualised experiences based on each person’s interests and preferences. This combination of scale, recognised excellence and research evidence has established the programme as one of Ireland’s most developed and demonstrably impactful volunteer programmes in dementia care. What began with Better Life funding for one dedicated role has created a sustainable volunteer community whose contribution is felt every day across St Joseph’s Centre.