The purpose of this study was to identify the educational needs of volunteers caring for the elderly through investigation of their activities and the level of knowledge. The subjects of this study were 142 volunteers who were working at an institute for the elderly in J city. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from October 1 to November 20, 2000. The data was analyzed by SPSS/PC. The results of this study were as follows ; 1. The most frequent activities of volunteers were physical care, followed by spiritual care, environmental care, and psychosocial care. 2. The areas revealing relatively high level of volunteers' knowledge were psychological and social characteristics of the elderly and social welfare for the elderly. Those areas which showed relatively low level of knowledge were nutrition, elimination, and skin care. In conclusion, those volunteers who work for the elderly were lacking in consistency of activities and knowledge. They were also lacking in the clinical practice. Therefore, education for volunteers need to emphasize practice with the aged people.