| Abstract: | Summary The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act outlined an extended rolefor volunteers and voluntary organizations in the provisionof services for disabled adults and older people. In broad terms,the Act assumed an untapped pool of volunteers, ready to contributeat little additional cost to the provision of care. More recentpolicy developments, including Millennium Volunteers (ScottishOffice 1997) have made similar assumptions. For organizationswhich involve volunteers, the expectations of their increaseduse in service provision present considerable challenges, notleast in attracting new recruits and retaining existing volunteers.The research presented in this paper builds on previous workto explore the current practice and organization of volunteeringand to examine critically how far the reality matches the politicalrhetoric about the role of volunteers in the mixed economy ofcare. The paper begins with a critical review of recent policyand practice in volunteering to set the context which providedour key questions. The research methodology is briefly describedand the findings from a survey of 117 active volunteers workingwith adults with learning difficulties, mental health problemsand physical disabilities, and with older people in the Northof Scotland are presented. The research examines the demographyand personality profiles of the volunteers. It examines theirperceptions of volunteering as these relate to motivation, recruitment,selection, training, support, rewards and reasons for leaving.Finally, it examines volunteers' perceptions of the organizationof volunteering. The results are reviewed in relation to thepolicy assumptions about volunteering in the mixed economy ofcare. |
