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Volunteers who care

Author(s)	Jeroen Devilee
Publication date	11 March 2008
Keywords
Price	€
Number of pages
ISBN/ISSN/other	9789037703535
Series	Publication
Research group	Participation and Governance

Original title: Vrijwillig verzorgd.

Everyone knows them: volunteers from churches and other civil-society organisations who visit the chronically sick, lonely elderly and other people in need. This service is provided from a wide array of organisations. Unfortunately, it is by no means always clear which voluntary services are available to those in need, nor 'which organisations do what'.
This lack of clarity does not alter the fact that volunteers play an important supporting role in community-based care. Government policy is in fact predicated on the assumption that those in need of care will first try to meet their needs by calling on informal carers and volunteers.
This publication explores which services are provided by organisations for voluntary community-based care, how voluntary care is supported and how it is embedded in local care networks. It also devotes attention to interesting practices in other countries and sheds light on expectations and aspirations for the next five to ten years.