Vision for volunteering in health [project] initiated by The King’s Fund [United Kingdom]

The Health & Social Care Act seeks to create a more competitive health and social care provider market, within which a wide range of organisations (public, private, social enterprise and voluntary) will be encouraged to deliver services. 

It is widely acknowledged that volunteers can add value in health and social care by providing timely and personalised support to [often] marginalised pupulation groups, but the true extent of their activities in health and social care remains poorly documented and the potential impact of the current reforms on volunteering is under-explored. The project purpose is:  

[1] to gain a greater understanding of the role, size, scope and value of volunteering in the health and social care sector; and

[2] to understand how health reform (particularly the potential changes in the types of organisations involved in providing health and social care) will impact on volunteering.

   

The focus of the research is on how reform could affect the likely growth in NHS provision for volunteering from a range of organisations (such as social enterprises, foundation trusts and private sector providers). The project has three main stages:

[1] a summary review of the literature in order to understand the value of volunteering to (a) volunteers, (b) patients or clients, (c) providers and commissioners, and (d) the health care sector as a whole;

[2] a qualitative analysis (using focus groups with volunteers and patients/users and semi-structured interviews with providers and commissioners) to identify how perceptions of reform could change volunteering behaviours and use of volunteers – to  be supported by quantitative analyses looking at relevant trends in volunteering; and

[3] a scenario analysis – a range of possible scenarios will be developed for how the future system (and volunteer's role in it) could develop – and workshop exploration will lead to recommendations on volunteering in the new health system. 

The final report will be published early in 2013. The project is being funded by the Department of Health and is supported by an external advisory group.

Visit http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/current_projects/volunteering_in_health/index.html to read this item again and find out more about the project (and the organisation).

Visit http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/vcs_health_outcomes.html to see the related blog and read an article titled ‘Do local voluntary organisations hold the key to improving health outcomes?’.