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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Susan Baines, Professor Rob WilsonORCiD
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Many Western states have sought in recent years to harness the energies of voluntary agencies and charitable bodies in the provision of welfare across policy domains. In this paper we focus on the UK, where the government has put mechanisms in place to ensure that the ‘Third Sector’ (broadly defined as formal organisations that are not part of the public or private sectors) shares responsibility with state agencies for providing services to those in need. Caring services for older adults are perceived as ever more demanding on public resources and likely to benefit from new ways of delivery that draw upon Third Sector experience and expertise. Claims by and on behalf of the Third Sector emphasize the ‘added value’ or ‘diverse value’ that the particular approaches of individual organisations bring to public service delivery. Success, however, can be hard to define, much less measure. For some voluntary agencies measuring performance seems like bureaucratic distraction. On the other hand, there is evidence that public sector commissioners get exasperated when voluntary organisations attempt to win funding on the grounds that they do ‘good work’. How Third Sector organisations articulate and demonstrate their value is an evolving area. This paper examines the range of added value that voluntary organisations bring to older people’s services. In particular it draws upon a series of case studies from two English regions to assess the ways in which that added value can be articulated and demonstrated. The authors then reflect upon how TSOs could build the capacity (both intellectual and operational) to articulate and demonstrate their value(s) to funders, users, volunteers and wider society.
Author(s): Baines S, Wilson RG, Hardill I
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: Transforming Elderly Care
Year of Conference: 2008
Pages: 6
Publisher: Danish National Centre for Social Research
URL: http://www.west-info.eu/media/westEuropa/allegati/000/033/99/000.033.99.0001.pdf
