More than 17 million people volunteer and work in the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement.1 With more than 130 active armed conflicts in at least fifty countries, it can be estimated that at least 4 million RCRC volunteers and staff live and work in armed conflict settings;2 most volunteers and staff work in their own countries, delivering essential humanitarian assistance to their communities. In 2025, twenty-seven RCRC volunteers and staff lost their lives in the line of duty, with additional fatalities occurring off-duty.3 Extreme working conditions and constant exposure to suffering often cause long-term psychological consequences, and the mental health and psychosocial impacts occur in a wider context that can lead staff and volunteers to question their fundamental moral values.

This qualitative study seeks to explore the mental health and psychosocial4 experiences of national volunteers and staff by amplifying their voices and acknowledging the hardships that they go through. Through a lens of moral injury and trauma-informed approaches, the findings of the study shed light on the lived experiences of national staff and volunteers working and living in armed conflict contexts. Key themes that emerged from the study include a strong commitment to the RCRC Movement, exposure to harm, mental health impacts, and the need for support systems for staff and volunteers. These insights underscore the urgency of embedding trauma-informed approaches in Movement-wide policies and support systems to strengthen protection and well-being for staff and volunteers.

This paper develops and defends a non-utilitarian interpretation of John Harsanyi’s social aggregation theorem and sum of vNM utilities approach. On this interpretation, vNM utilities transform an independently available cardinal measure of fully comparable individual well-being. The resulting proposal for ranking well-being distributions – the Risk-Priority View – is not welfare-anonymous and can favour a smaller increase in well-being for one individual rather than a larger increase in well-being for another, equally well-off individual. I argue here that such counterintuitive implications can be defended, and that impartiality can still be secured through the imposition of an alternative, interprofile anonymity axiom.

This study provides evidence supporting the validity of the Psychologically Rich Life Questionnaire (PRLQ) in a large Spanish sample, comparing its 17-item and 12-item versions and various measures of well-being and distress. Both versions show high internal consistency and adequate fit, although some elements could be interpreted as favoring the 12-item version. Analyses revealed significant associations between PRLQ scores and sociodemographic factors, with higher scores observed among older individuals, those with higher levels of education, and those with higher incomes, although effect sizes were small. We found a consistent pattern of positive correlations with well-being variables (e.g., resilience and meaning in life) and negative correlations with distress measures (e.g., depression, anxiety, and loneliness). This study, for the first time in Spanish, presents information on a questionnaire that addresses a novel concept complementary to traditional views of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Limitations, including digital literacy disparities and potential cultural or age-related biases, are discussed. Future research should explore the cross-cultural equivalence of the PRLQ and its utility in longitudinal and predictive contexts.

South Asia has a unique geographical profile, with the mighty Himalayas in the north and a long coastline in the south along its eastern and western borders. In the past few decades, with human population growth, and increasing urbanisation and industrialisation, the climate has been a casualty, with an adverse impact on physical health and well-being and on mental health. There have been certain initiatives on the part of local governments in the form of action plans on climate change, but the effects of these initiatives are yet to be seen. Research from South Asia on the impact of climate change on mental health is still at preliminary level.

There is compelling evidence that humanitarian staff and volunteers face an increased risk of adverse mental health conditions due to their work, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and burn-out. This article first outlines the mental health consequences associated with working in the humanitarian sector, linking these outcomes to contextual, operational and organizational psychosocial risk factors. Building on both the evidence available and the theoretical models in mental health at the workplace, and going beyond solely offering psychosocial support interventions, we propose an evidence-based framework to guide protective actions at the individual, group, leader, organizational and overarching contextual levels (the IGLOO model), tailored to the specific challenges of humanitarian contexts. Based on our experience with the International Committee of the Red Cross, we present two examples of utilizing this framework within two interventions: (1) training managers to strengthen practices that promote and protect well-being, address psychosocial risk factors, identify individuals showing signs of distress and facilitate safe access to psychological support, and (2) applying a psychosocial response framework to support staff following critical incidents. Finally, we discuss the advantages and challenges of adopting an integrated psychosocial approach to staff care, drawing implications for policy and practice from our interventions and broader experience within the sector. We conclude that humanitarian organizations should adopt an integrated approach to duty of care, prioritizing not only treatment but also the prevention and mitigation of psychological harm among staff and volunteers operating in conflict zones, extending beyond immediate crisis support to ensure sustainable protection of mental health.

This systematic review examines the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB)/fulfilment (PCF) and employee well-being, with a specific focus on mediating and moderating mechanisms. A systematic search in four databases yielded 59 empirical studies published between 1990 and 2024. The findings indicate that PCB hinders employee well-being, whereas PCF supports a range of well-being outcomes, and there is no consensus on whether PCB or PCF has a greater impact on employee well-being. Evidence also suggests that PCB and PCF are related but distinct constructs. Synthesising mediators and moderators, the review advances a contingent and process-based understanding of how psychological contract evaluations shape employee well-being. The evidence further indicates that the relative impact of PCB or PCF on employee well-being is conditional rather than universal. These findings extend conservation of resources and social exchange theories, and highlight the need for more theoretically rigorous and causally robust future research.

Recent legislation in the UK has placed an expectation on social purpose organisations (SPOs) to consider, monitor and evaluate the societal value they generate. However, meaningful engagement with the Social Value Act by the third sector is relatively low, which reflects both conceptual and methodological shortcomings. This paper describes a programme of action research which has developed a user-friendly tool to assist smaller SPOs to explore, evidence and value the benefits that they produce for society. Conceptualising social value through the lens of the localism, personalisation, deliberative democracy and social innovation agendas, the paper describes the process and experience of applying a Social Return Assessment tool and the lessons learnt for the three SPOs involved, the third sector, and for commissioning bodies. Recommendations reflect the need for a standardised monitoring and evaluation framework tailored to specific third sector interest groups and networks.

This paper, based on Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data, analyzes the relation between volunteering and well-being among 30,023 Europeans aged 50 and above in 12 countries. There is an overall positive correlation between volunteering and perceived health, life satisfaction, and self-life expectancy and a negative correlation to depression. However, in some countries the correlation is much stronger than in others.

This study examines the subjective quality of life of globally expanding senior citizens post-retirement, from a volunteering perspective. Formal volunteering is one way to engage retired seniors, providing social connectedness and enhanced well-being while potentially reducing their support service needs. It also provides a valuable resource to nonprofits. Thus, it is a win–win for both these individuals and their societies. This study has empirically examined associations between regular formal volunteering and seniors’ personal outlook, in the context of enhanced subjective quality of life. Past research has overlooked this important perspective, which often influences relationships between volunteering and subjective quality of life. Surveying 207 seniors, this study found that voluntary work perceptions are often associated with regular formal volunteering, which in turn is associated with the individual’s personal outlook, which in turn is positively associated with the aspects of subjective quality of life, particularly mental and emotional well-being. These results will guide policymakers on improving the quality of life of seniors through their extended involvement as volunteers, including for nonprofits, ways to recruit, train and manage their volunteer workforce and take action in further increasing the profile and the availability of formal volunteering.

The monetary value of informal eldercare in the family and voluntary sector has drawn much attention as it concerns a resource of welfare governments and nonprofit organizations try to activate via cash benefits. Studies addressing the issue in order to assess the economic impact of non-market activities and the willingness to accept financial rewards have largely ignored differences in the utility function of caregivers. Applying a behavioral-economic approach, we report a profound and formerly unobserved distinction between care in the household and non-household care for a family member or in a voluntary framework: whereas caregivers within the household perceive care as a burden and a positive shadow price arises, in the non-household context—and particularly in the volunteering case–care extends well-being and leads to negative shadow prices. The results show that non-market activities can only be measured in monetary terms to a limited extent and contribute to explaining the boundaries of monetary incentive policies.