Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and well-being of museum volunteers

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and multidimensional impact on museums in the United States, but there has been little research into the perspectives of volunteers during this crisis, and less into the impacts it has had on their mental health. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of volunteers working in small history museums during the pandemic and to examine the impacts on their mental health and well-being. Participants included nine adult volunteers who were recruited from three small history museums in Washington state. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, informed by the PERMA model of workplace well-being. Findings suggest that volunteers regarded their work in museums as having both positive and negative impacts on their well-being during the pandemic. Participants felt that volunteering provided them with needed mental stimulation, social connection, and presented an opportunity for museum leadership to focus on regrouping and strategic planning; volunteers also reported feeling burned out from the stress of increased workload and pressure to rapidly recover amidst a global pandemic.