Does anyone have any experience and/or advice about starting conversations with volunteers about their changing abilities?
We run a sail training program at our museum where volunteers can learn to sail on a historic ship. When the museum's vessels take passengers out, volunteers are part of the crew. One of the biggest points we make to volunteers is that this role is physically strenuous and can be very dangerous.
I have been in my position a year now and have one sailing season under my belt. One of the things that I and several others have noticed this past year is participants who overestimate their own physical abilities. What is so concerning about this is how important reflexes, mobility and to a lesser degree strength are as qualities in crew members.
The toughest group to bring this up to is volunteers who have been in the program for a long time, sometimes decades, who might not be ready to confront the fact that their physical abilities may not be the same as they were when they started.
As we use the winter to plan for the next season, we are rethinking our best practices and I would really love to set up a plan on how we address physical ability and the requirements around that with new and returning volunteers while at the same time remaining accessible and inclusive to everyone.
We don't want anyone to feel excluded or singled out and we don't want to offend, but at the same time we have the safety of other volunteers, staff and passengers to think about. It is a difficult subject to address and the response might have to change depending on the situation or individual, but I feel that having a plan for this event and addressing things early is obviously better than addressing things after an accident has happened.
If anyone has an experience with this or knows of any resources on this topic, I would love to know! Thank you!
