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ABSTRACT Care cooperatives: Experiences from three perspectives Dutch civil society is changing: the costs of healthcare and welfare are on the rise while, at the same time, government spending on these sectors is decreasing. Especially in rural areas, many citizens are now confronted with a decline in the supply of care and welfare facilities. Some citizens in these rural areas have taken matters into their own hands and are arranging their own care and welfare services via healthcare and welfare cooperatives (hereafter: “care cooperatives”). This development is potentially of high relevance to the government, which is promoting increased personal participation in the healthcare and welfare sectors in order to reduce public spending in these areas. It is also important for citizens who wish to participate in organizing their own care and for the healthcare and welfare suppliers who may be able to improve their services by incorporating the new knowledge gained by the care cooperatives. The aim of this study is to gain insight into the functioning of care cooperatives as a specific form of citizens’ initiative. This short exploratory study is designed to answer the following research question: What are the experiences of care recipients, professional and voluntary caregivers and initiators of care cooperatives with respect to care cooperatives?To answer this research question, we conducted a case study involving three care cooperatives in the Netherlands. We interviewed three different groups of stakeholders, namely care recipients, caregivers and the initiators of these care cooperatives. During the study, the researchers were accompanied by a team of experts from the various fields of practice. The results of the study were discussed with this team and during an expert meeting. This study contributes to our knowledge of care cooperatives because to date, only a few studies have been conducted in relation to the initiators of care cooperatives, none of which were scientifically based or included the perspectives of care recipients and caregivers.The interviewed care recipients were elderly community members who receive healthcare or welfare services from a care cooperative. They were very satisfied with the limited number of caregivers taking care of them (no more than five caregivers in total). They were also satisfied with the frequency and flexibility with which the caregivers visited them. Generally, care recipients knew which caregiver would come at which time. The caregivers also offered flexibility in the timing of their visits and the care recipients were able to reschedule appointments if necessary. The research shows that care recipients were very satisfied with the way care cooperatives provide care. This method of providing care made it possible for care recipients to continue living their own lives and gave them the opportunity to maintain control over their own lives. Care cooperatives managed to provide person-centred care, which translates as care in which the recipient is the focal point of attention. Recipients play an active role, are able to maintain their own identity and control of their own lives, and remain self-reliant, sometimes with help from family or friends.Most caregivers lived in the villages covered by the working area of the care cooperative. However, the scope of their work varied. While some caregivers worked as volunteers by helping at a day care facility for elderly people, other caregivers received remuneration and the scope of their work included nursing and taking care of elderly people living independently in their own homes. The reasons given by caregivers for choosing to work for the care cooperative also differed. Some caregivers mentioned social benefits and the opportunity to contribute to the quality of life in the village. Others mentioned benefits at the individual level and their enjoyment of working within a trusted environment.The manner in which care cooperatives provide care corresponds to the way that caregivers want to provide care to care recipients. For example, the number of clients was limited and caregivers appreciated working in small self-managing teams that provide them with a high degree of autonomy in their work. However, it was found that working for a care cooperative also has drawbacks. For example, it is not possible to offer caregivers a contract with fixed work hours and the number of hours that they can work is often not sufficient to provide the principal income of their family. Furthermore, working in one’s own village with a high degree of autonomy can also lead to a blurring of the boundary between work and personal life. Caregivers sometimes reported receiving after-hours calls from care recipients and/or thinking about the situation of the care recipients when they were at home.Initiators had varying motivations for setting up a care cooperative. Often, they reported negative personal experiences with regular forms of care. One initiator was motivated by his own professional experience of working in healthcare. Some positive and negative experiences were mentioned in earlier non-scientific research. In order to establish and maintain a care cooperative, a broad social consensus is crucial. It is important that the care cooperative begins its activities quickly so that villagers can see that the care cooperative is active. Initiators also stressed the importance of the organizational structure. They advised establishing a structure in which the members are able to exert a significant influence on the policies of the care cooperative.One new negative aspect found in this study was the problem of continuity. The initiators of care cooperatives need to find successors in their own village who are as passionate about the care cooperative as they are in order to ensure the continued existence of the care cooperative. Another negative aspect was the amount of regulation that care cooperatives must take into account. Finally, the unwillingness and/or impossibility of organizations and municipalities to cooperate with the care cooperative was a further negative aspect. At the same time, when these organizations and municipalities did cooperate, this could act as a positive experience for the establishment and continuation of a care cooperative.This exploratory study is the first study on care cooperatives in the Netherlands that includes all three of these perspectives. It provides many new findings, particularly with regard to the perspectives of care recipients and caregivers. SAMENVATTINGZorgcoöperaties: Ervaringen vanuit drie perspectievenDit onderzoek geeft een eerste inzicht in de ervaringen van zorgontvangers, zorgverleners en initiatiefnemers met de oprichting en voortzetting van zorgcoöperaties. Van drie zorgcoöperaties zijn zorgvragers, zorgverleners en initiatiefnemers geïnterviewd over hun positieve en negatieve ervaringen met zorgcoöperaties en over hun ervaringen met reguliere zorgorganisaties. Het doel is een bijdrage te leveren aan kennisontwikkeling over het functioneren van zorgcoöperaties.De ondervraagde zorgontvangers zijn erg tevreden over de ontvangen ondersteuning en zorg: het contact met zorgverleners is goed en er zijn veel mogelijkheden om de eigen regie over het leven te behouden. Zorgverleners vinden het prettig om voor een zorgcoöperatie te werken, vooral vanwege de grote zelfstandigheid en omdat zij bij kunnen dragen aan de zelfredzaamheid van de mensen voor wie zij zorgen. Het werken voor een zorgcoöperatie heeft echter ook een keerzijde, namelijk dat zorgverleners vaak niet voldoende (vaste) uren kunnen werken en er soms te weinig scheiding is tussen privé en werk. Initiatiefnemers richten een zorgcoöperatie op omdat zij er, vanuit persoonlijke of professionele ervaringen, van overtuigd zijn dat het beter kan: vooral kleinschaliger met meer aandacht voor de menselijke maat. Draagvlak in het dorp is cruciaal voor de oprichting en voortzetting van een zorgcoöperatie.

Finding the perfect volunteer matchOrganizations that are (partially) staffed by volunteers in the Netherlands are experiencing a growing need for volunteers. This relates to stricter laws and regulations, the changing deployment of volunteers and reforms in the care system (Bekkers & Boezeman, 2009; Devilee, 2005; MOVISIE, 2014; Rutte & Samsom, 2012).Volunteer centres can form part of the solution to the growing demand for volunteers. There are about 240 volunteer centres in the Netherlands. They promote volunteering and provide information, training, advice and support in this area. In addition, they play an active role as brokers in bringing together supply (volunteers) and demand (volunteer-involving organizations). This intermediary role is often the core business of volunteer centres (Ploegmakers, Merkus & Terpstra, 2011; Terpstra, Ploegmakers & van Laar, 2008).The success of volunteer brokerage remains relatively limited, however. Offline brokerage (at the office of the volunteer centre) is in about half of the cases successful. This falls to 37 percent for online brokerage. Volunteer brokerage is classed as successful when a volunteer is placed at an organization for a short-term project or a period of three months (Ploegmakers et al., 2011).Literature research (Van Gilst, Schalk, Garretsen & Van de Goor, 2011) was carried out to determine how the results of volunteer brokerage can be improved. The motivation and feelings of pride and respect on the part of a volunteer are found to be important for the level of satisfaction and willingness to keep on volunteering in both the short term and the long term.This article examines how success factors such as motivation, pride and respect can be incorporated into the daily brokerage practices of volunteer centres. Two research questions are central to this article:1. How does volunteer brokerage occur in practice?2. When and how can success factors for matching volunteers and organizations (partially) staffed by volunteers be incorporated into the practice of brokerage?The data are derived from a field study among volunteer centres, organizations (partially) staffed by volunteers and volunteers in the province of Zuid-Holland in the Netherlands. Three different research methods were used: survey, interviews, and desk research.The analysis of data from the field study showed that volunteer centres in the province of Zuid-Holland follow a similar procedure when it comes to matching volunteers. The brokerage procedure involves six phases. These phases may involve face-to-face contact with employees at the volunteer centre or online via the internet. Fully online brokerage with no personal contact was not an option at the time of the study. The six phases can be characterized as follows:• Orientation – Volunteers and organizations (partially) staffed by volunteers are given practical information about volunteering. Volunteers can search a database of volunteer jobs at the office or online. Usually, there is no database of volunteers for organizations to look into, because most volunteer centres do not have such databases.• Registration – In the case of online brokerage, a volunteer must register in order to access the contact details of organizations. With face-to-face brokerage, registration often is incorporated into the matching phase. An organization also has to register to make use of the service of the volunteer centre.• Matching – Information about a volunteer is collected at a face-to-face interview. This information may include prior education, skills, hobbies, interests, aspirations, feelings, motivation and ambitions. Occasionally, tests are used. Several tests are available to determine which volunteer job best suits the personality, motivation and interests of a particular volunteer. However, tests are often considered an unnecessary hindrance. The personal data, test results, and sometimes the intuition and personal impressions of employees of the volunteer centre are all used to select suitable vacancies. Matching on the internet is more restricted, and often remains limited to comparing vacancies. Organizations are checked in this phase. Research is done whether an organization is bona fide and whether the volunteer job vacancies that are offered, meet the criteria for volunteering.• Reaction – When a match is found, an interview is arranged between the volunteer and the organization.• Acquaintance – The volunteer and the volunteer organization get acquainted. The organization considers whether the volunteer is suitable for the vacancy. The volunteer receives more information about the organization and the job vacancy. Finally, a decision is made to accept or reject the volunteer.• Feedback – The organization and/or volunteer provide feedback on the outcome of the matching process. The role of the volunteer centre ends when a successful match has been established. If this does not occur, the whole procedure can be repeated.The description of the brokerage procedure makes it possible to pinpoint when and how success factors can be implemented in the daily practice of volunteer centres. The Matching Phase offers the best opportunity to influence the volunteer’s perception of an organization with a vacancy. This is important to address feelings of pride and respect. The volunteer centre evaluates and edits the text of the vacancy and explains the role to the volunteer face-to-face. During the AcquaintancePhase, information about the organization is also shared with the volunteer. This is the task of the organization itself, although volunteer centres may also play a supporting role. In all cases, good coordination between the volunteer centre and the organization is required to ensure that a consistent and appropriate image is presented.In terms of appraising the motives of a volunteer, the Matching Phase offers the greatest potential. In this phase, motives can thoroughly be considered during face-to-face contact with a prospective volunteer. Specific attention to motives in interview protocols is important. The use of tests or even the development of alternative tests should also be (re)considered. In the case of online brokerage, it is much harder to establish an accurate picture of motives. Online testing could offer a solution. However, interpretation possibilities are limited because test results cannot be supplemented with other information. This favours (for the time being) face-to-face contact during online Matching.In addition, the phase model of volunteer brokerage provides volunteer centres with a framework to describe their brokerage activities. This can be useful when training (new) employees and providing transparency for customers and funders.Op zoek naar de perfecte match in vrijwilligerslandDe vraag naar vrijwilligers neemt de laatste jaren sterk toe in Nederland. Dit heeft te maken met een strengere wet- en regelgeving, veranderende inzet van vrijwilligers en hervormingen in de zorg (Bekkers & Boezeman, 2009; Devilee, 2005; MOVISIE, 2014; Rutte & Samsom, 2012). Steunpunten vrijwilligerswerk kunnen als bemiddelaars bijdragen aan de regulering van de vraag naar vrijwilligers. De mate van succes van vrijwilligersbemiddeling is echter nog relatief beperkt. Uit literatuuronderzoek (Van Gilst et al., 2011) is bekend welke factoren bijdragen aan het succes van vrijwilligersbemiddeling. Dit artikel beschrijft de bemiddelingspraktijk van steunpunten vrijwilligerswerk en geeft aan wanneer en hoe de gevonden succesfactoren kunnen worden ingezet in deze bemiddelingspraktijk om het resultaat te verbeteren. De praktijkgegevens zijn afkomstig van een veldonderzoek onder steunpunten, vrijwilligers en organisaties die met vrijwilligers werken.

Volunteer brokerage in the Netherlands The Dutch volunteer market can be characterized as tight. Many volunteer-involving organizations, particularly in the healthcare sector, face a shortage of volunteers. Brokerage is one (of many) option(s) to find new volunteers. This article describes, based on a literature review, what brokerage means, by whom or where it is offered and the importance it has as a recruitment channel. The authors explicitly address proven success factors for brokerage and the potential impact of brokerage on the preservation of volunteers. Bemiddeling op de Nederlandse vrijwilligersmarkt De Nederlandse vrijwilligersmarkt kan worden getypeerd als krap. Veel vrijwilligersorganisaties, met name in de zorgsector, kampen met een tekort aan vrijwilligers. Bemiddeling is één (van vele) optie(s) om nieuwe vrijwilligers te vinden. In dit artikel wordt, op basis van een literatuurstudie, beschreven wat bemiddeling inhoudt, door wie of waar het wordt geboden en welk belang het heeft als wervingskanaal. Expliciet wordt ingegaan op aangetoonde succesfactoren voor bemiddeling en de mogelijke impact van bemiddeling op het behoud van vrijwilligers.