Not under the direction of any authority wielding the power of the State:a critical assessment of top-down attempts to foster volunteering in the UK

In order to discuss features that enable volunteering, this paper offers an alternative conceptualisation of volunteering, as expressing individual choice to take part in civil society, which is explicitly not under the direction of the State

Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons : Analysis and assessment.

The purpose of this study is to analyse and assess Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons. The study provides a general description of the Chinese character script, the reform of Chinese language and the reform of Chinese character script. It reviews past and contemporary Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons and gives a general description of the currently used Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons. The different Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons are discussed and the nature of the relationship between speech and writing in Chinese is taken into account. The discussion concludes that change to the existing writing systems for visually impaired persons is essential in order to provide for the full and equal participation of visually impaired persons in Chinese society and culture. The theoretical possibilities for achievable and worthwhile improvements to the systems are assessed. The assessment is set in a wider context by taking into account developments in other societies, notably Japan and Korea, where there are similarities in problems associated with non-alphabetic scripts. Developments in communications and computer technology and their relationship to visually impaired users are also considered. The results of field research conducted in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Britain are used to put these assessments into perspective. The field research constituted a pilot study since no previous such studies had been made. It was concerned with visually impaired users' perceptions of Chinese script and Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons. The thesis of this work is that significant improvements could be brought about by changing Chinese writing systems for visually impaired persons. Key issues for such improvements are identified and a framework for change is established. To illustrate the framework and the issues which might arise in its implementation 1000 Chinese characters have been encoded with Braille symbols but no attempt has been made to achieve a comprehensive encoding. This could and should be left to bodies in China, entrusted with the detailed elaboration and practical implementation of the changes

Pandemic policy making: The health and wellbeing effects of the cessation of volunteering on older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: This policy-orientated commentary aims to provide a perspective on the effects of policy changes designed to reduce the risk of infection as a result of COVID-19. The example of the abrupt cessation of volunteering activities is used to consider the policy and practice implications that need to be acknowledged in new public service research to deal with the on-going implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and for future preparedness. Design/methodology/approach: The paper will provide a critical challenge to English pandemic health policy making, in particular, the national instruction “to stop non-essential contact with others” without a strategy on how to remedy the serious side effects of this instruction, in particular on older adults. Findings: The abrupt cessation of volunteering activities of and for older people because of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly likely to have negative health and wellbeing effects on older adults with long-term and far-reaching policy implications. Originality/value: The paper combines existing knowledge volunteering of and for older adults with early pandemic practice evidence to situate an emerging health and wellbeing crisis for older adults. It emphasises the importance of immediate further detailed research to provide evidence for policy and practice following the lifting of COVID-19 related restrictions and in preparation for future crises

The changing landscape of public service delivery systems for disabled people in China: a Shanghai case study

This article will consider the current development of an emerging contract culture for the delivery of social services and its impact on disabled people in China. The discussion is based on an original qualitative study in Shanghai. The past 30 years have seen dramatic changes in China, which in parts have led to improvements in the lives of disabled people. The China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) became a key player in delivering these changes with the government. However, the CDPF is being criticized by disabled people for being too bureaucratic and not being effective enough in its delivery of services. One of its responses is to work with newly emerging not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) of and for disabled people. The CDPF has now begun to contract the delivery of some services to such NPOs. It is hoped that this may improve their effectiveness but the development of a contract culture in the delivery of services for disabled people may also be seen to pose a threat

Exploring disconnected discourses about patient and public involvement and volunteer involvement in English health and social care

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care policy, service decision-making and research are presented as good practice in England. Yet the explicit rationale for PPI and how it is positioned within the literature, policy and practice remain confused, in particular, in relation to Volunteer Involvement (VI). In health and social care, PPI and VI are managed and valued as conceptually distinct, yet the discourses in their policy and practice documents treat them as closely related in fundamental ways.  Objective: Compare and critically evaluate discourses framing PPI and VI within English health and social care.  Design: A critical discourse approach was used to explore the accounts of PPI and VI in policy. These accounts were then compared and contrasted with personal accounts of volunteering in health and social care settings.  Results: Twenty documents from key national health and social care bodies were discursively examined in terms of their framing PPI and VI. A narrative disconnect between the two was repeatedly confirmed. This finding contrasted with an analysis of personal accounts of VI which displayed VI as a form of PPI.  Conclusion: There is a disconnect between language, narratives and practice in PPI and in VI which may have direct consequences for policy and practice. Recognising and managing it can offer innovative ways of enabling volunteers to be involved across health and social care settings, ensuring the experiential value added by volunteers’ service contributions, to be recognised so that their democratic participation may be seen to shape services

Pandemic policymaking affecting older adult volunteers during and after the COVID-19 public health crisis in the four nations of the UK

Purpose This study aims to critically examine the effects of COVID-19 social discourses and policy decisions specifically on older adult volunteers in the UK, comparing the responses and their effects in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, providing perspectives on effects of policy changes designed to reduce risk of infection as a result of COVID-19, specifically on volunteer involvement of and for older adults, and understand, from the perspectives of volunteer managers, how COVID-19 restrictions had impacted older people’s volunteering and situating this within statutory public health policies. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a critical discourse approach to explore, compare and contrast accounts of volunteering of and for older people in policy, and then compare the discourses within policy documents with the discourses in personal accounts of volunteering in health and social care settings in the four nations of the UK. This paper is co-produced in collaboration with co-authors who have direct experience with volunteer involvement responses and their impact on older people. Findings The prevailing overall policy approach during the pandemic was that risk of morbidity and mortality to older people was too high to permit them to participate in volunteering activities. Disenfranchising of older people, as exemplified in volunteer involvement, was remarkably uniform across the four nations of the UK. However, the authors find that despite, rather than because of policy changes, older volunteers, as part of, or with the help of, volunteer involving organisations, are taking time to think and to reconsider their involvement and are renewing their volunteer involvement with associated health benefits. Research limitations/implications Working with participants as co-authors helps to ensure the credibility of results in that there was agreement in the themes identified and the conclusions. A limitation of this study lies in the sampling method, as a convenience sample was used and there is only representation from one organisation in each of the four nations. Originality/value The paper combines existing knowledge about volunteer involvement of and for older adults

Volunteer Involvement in UK Universities:Inclusion, Excellence, Impact

Providing a comprehensive overview of volunteer involvement in UK universities, this book addresses a distinct and substantive policy and management issue. Offering examples of volunteer involvement with students, staff, alumni and communities from 147 UK Higher Education Institutions, it provides important background to understanding volunteer involvement. It also introduces key concepts for critically assessing ways in which those who seek to involve volunteers can respond to rapidly changing environments. Drawing on a combination of theoretical perspectives and practical experiences the book systematically explores approaches based on the current structures of volunteer involvement in UK universities, which provides accessible insights for Higher Education Institutions into how they can effectively organise volunteer involvement and maximise its societal impact. Developing 10 indicators with measures to evidence universities’ strategic approaches and achievements in community-university relations, the book offers practical ways to plan, enable, monitor, and assess the impact of volunteer involvement in universities

Volunteer Involvement:An Introduction to Theory and Practice

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest theory and practice for volunteer involvement. It represents a milestone for knowledge of how and why volunteers become involved and will be essential reading for practitioners, policy makers and funders. Offering exercises and examples from practice, it introduces concepts for understanding volunteers’ agency and for critically assessing ways in which those who seek to involve volunteers can respond to rapidly changing environments. The authors draw on a combination of theoretical perspectives and practical experiences to develop approaches based on individuals and community strengths and assets, underlining the need for conviviality, respect and enjoyment in volunteer involvement

Deconstructing the Panacea of Volunteering in Criminal Justice

The announcement in November 2012 by the Minister of Justice of plans to recruit volunteering organisations as indispensable to his ‘rehabilitation revolution’ crystallised several favoured policy themes of the coalition government. The speech confirmed the special status that voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) had assumed in governmental thinking about resettling and managing offenders. The proposition that civic-minded volunteers could salvage offenders from lives of crime on a widespread scale was fêted as an idea whose time had come. That appeal resonated with the Big Society project, which promulgated the idea that civil society could play an important, and sometimes more successful, role than the state in tackling entrenched social problems, including crime (Norman, 2010). Within this paradigm, it is claimed that properly trained members of the community and even former lawbreakers are singularly well placed to help offenders to turn their lives around where the prisons and probation system are deemed to have failed (Carter, 2003; Le Grand, 2007). However, underlying the appeal to socially responsible citizenship was the more sombre warning that discharging offenders back to homelessness, social isolation or substance addiction without help would perpetuate their reoffending, to the eventual cost of public safety: Solving these problems requires a radically different approach. Our central objective is to make the public safer by breaking the cycle of crime. (Ministry of Justice, 2010: 7, s15