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Promoting social inclusion? The impact of village services on the lives of older people living in rural England
- Authors:
- DWYER Peter, HARDILL Irene
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(2), February 2011, pp.243-264.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
A project with a user-participatory approach examined the extent to which village services, or rural community-based services and activities, promote the social inclusion of people aged 70 or over living in remote rural communities in England. The qualitative study focused on services for older people (lunch clubs, welfare rights information and advice, befriending schemes and community warden support) in 3 regions - the East Midlands, the West Midlands, and the East of England. This article discusses the findings, using extracts from interviews with 69 service users and key informants involved in the management, delivery or financing of the services. The authors argue that village services promote social inclusion in various ways by enhancing older rural residents' access to resources, rights, goods and services that encourage social interaction and meaningful participation in community life. They also note that the overwhelming majority of users of village services are female, that older men are often reluctant to engage with the services on offer, and that village services providers need to find innovative ways of engaging with older men in rural areas.
Delivering public services in the mixed economy of welfare: perspectives from the voluntary and community sector in rural England
- Authors:
- HARDILL Irene, DWYER Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Policy, 40(1), January 2011, pp.157-172.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
The voluntary and community sector in England is playing an increasingly important role in the delivery of public services to older adults and in doing so they rely on unpaid volunteers. This article draws on the findings of a recent qualitative study of the impact on the voluntary and community sector of delivering ‘low-level’ public services that promote independent living and wellbeing in old age. The fieldwork focused on 6 services which provide lunch clubs, welfare rights information and advice, befriending and community warden services for older adults living in remote rural communities across 3 English regions (the East Midlands, West Midlands, and the East of England). A total of 69 participants were interviewed; 25 of whom were key informants (paid staff, volunteers, and funders), and 44 of whom were older people who made use of one of the services. The results highlight two key challenges faced by the voluntary and community sector in delivering public services: managing precarious funding regimes from the public purse; and a reliance on an unpaid, volunteer workforce for the frontline delivery of many services.