There are three main forms of inclusion of voluntary organizations in municipal health and care services:
That the volunteers organize themselves through voluntary organizations and that these organizations and the municipality co-create services for the municipalities' service users and other residents
That the municipality itself recruits and organizes volunteers who contribute to its own services
An intermediate solution where the public finances a semi-autonomous volunteer center that organizes the volunteers for the municipality.
We have little knowledge of the prevalence of the three models, the relationship between them and what implications this has, for either municipal services or civil society.
Another aspect is that increased investment in the use of volunteers within the municipal health and care services raises the question of where the boundary between the volunteers and the municipality's employees should be and where it actually is in current practice. Is there any difference in this related to the three models?
In this project, we will examine the spread of the three models through the scope and characteristics of municipalities' collaboration with voluntary organizations and municipalities' use of self-recruited volunteers, within the field of health and care. We will investigate this from the perspective of voluntary organisations, municipalities and volunteer centres.
Research Question
- To what extent and how are voluntary organizations in the health and care field involved in co-creation with municipalities in Norway?
- To what extent do municipalities involve volunteers directly in public services without organizations being involved?
- To what extent are semi-autonomous volunteering centers involved in the recruitment and organization of volunteers
- Where are the boundaries for what is the responsibility of the public and voluntary sector? Can it still be understood as voluntary work when it is organized so strongly by the public sector?
- What happens to voluntary organizations if voluntary work no longer takes place within the framework of established organisations?
- Is this an unfortunate, instrumental exploitation of volunteering, or is it a form of activity and participation that suits those who choose to get involved?
Publications
Trætteberg, Håkon Solbu; Myksvoll, Thomas M.; Ervik, Rune; Lindén, Tord Skogedal & Eimhjellen, Ivar (2024). Voluntary effort in Norwegian elderly care - policy and practice. Who will recruit and organize the volunteers? Centre for Research on Civil Society and Voluntary Sector. Report 2024:2. Full text in Research Archive
