TY - JOUR
T1 - The why and how of co-production between professionals and volunteers
T2 - a qualitative study of community-based healthcare in Denmark
AU - Rasmussen, Lene Gissel
AU - Skjerning, Halfdan Thorsø
AU - Burau, Viola
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Purpose The present paper describes the interplay between the "why" and "how" in co-production based on a case study of community-based healthcare in Denmark involving municipalities and voluntary sports clubs. So far, policy practice and research have focussed on the "why" - the rationales and pre-requisites - of co-production. However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about the "how" of co-production in the interplay between professionals and volunteers. The paper asks how co-production is being perceived and practised according to existing norms and objectives of public healthcare and civil society, drawing on the theory of institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a critical case study approach to examine the practice of co-production. The analysis builds on qualitative data from nine semi-structured interviews, two information interviews and project documents. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded. Findings This paper demonstrates that compatibility of institutional logics was not given, nor did the co-existence of potentially competing logics necessarily result in conflict in co-production. Instead, in this case study co-production emerged as highly contingent, reflecting the dynamic interaction between logics and context-specific management. Originality/value This paper makes an original contribution to the conceptual understanding of co-production in emphasising the benefit of paying attention to the network logic when building bridges between public healthcare and civil society - and to unite the seemingly contradictory "why" and "how" of co-production in practice.
AB - Purpose The present paper describes the interplay between the "why" and "how" in co-production based on a case study of community-based healthcare in Denmark involving municipalities and voluntary sports clubs. So far, policy practice and research have focussed on the "why" - the rationales and pre-requisites - of co-production. However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about the "how" of co-production in the interplay between professionals and volunteers. The paper asks how co-production is being perceived and practised according to existing norms and objectives of public healthcare and civil society, drawing on the theory of institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a critical case study approach to examine the practice of co-production. The analysis builds on qualitative data from nine semi-structured interviews, two information interviews and project documents. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded. Findings This paper demonstrates that compatibility of institutional logics was not given, nor did the co-existence of potentially competing logics necessarily result in conflict in co-production. Instead, in this case study co-production emerged as highly contingent, reflecting the dynamic interaction between logics and context-specific management. Originality/value This paper makes an original contribution to the conceptual understanding of co-production in emphasising the benefit of paying attention to the network logic when building bridges between public healthcare and civil society - and to unite the seemingly contradictory "why" and "how" of co-production in practice.
KW - Case study
KW - Co-production
KW - Civil society logic
KW - Community-based health services
KW - Public service logic
KW - INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS
KW - ORGANIZATIONS
KW - COLLABORATION
KW - SERVICES
KW - USER
U2 - 10.1108/IJSSP-01-2022-0027
DO - 10.1108/IJSSP-01-2022-0027
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0144-333X
VL - 43
SP - 197
EP - 213
JO - International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
JF - International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
IS - 1-2
ER -