Evaluation of the National Adult Social Care Volunteer scheme

Primary research questions: What is known from academic and grey literature about volunteering in adult social care during and post COVID-19? What lessons can be learnt from adult social care engagement with the NHSCVR scheme between June 2023 - March 2024? What is meaningful volunteer involvement in adult social care from the perspectives of key informants from diverse providers? Background: Volunteering, both formal and organisation led, and informal within communities, is when someone spends unpaid time doing something to benefit others (NCVO, 2021). The scale of volunteering in social care in England is difficult to determine (MacInnes, 2022). Experiences during Covid from people recruited to the NHS Volunteer Responders programme reported very high levels of satisfaction and wellbeing, despite the challenging circumstances in which people volunteered (Dolan et al. 2021). Within adult social care (ASC), well-designed volunteer roles in care homes can bring significant benefits for residents, their family, and staff (MacInnes and Smith, 2022). However, the invisibility of volunteers in policymaking has been criticised (Grotz et al. 2020) and the role of volunteering within austerity-driven social policy debated (Kendall et al 2018). Dolan et al. (2021) and MacInnes and Smith (2022) highlight the timeliness and relevance of research to explore if a new ASC volunteer programme can benefit volunteers, service users and carers, staff, and employers. Aim: To evaluate volunteering in adult social care (ASC) within the NHS and Care Volunteer Responder (NHSCVR) Scheme and explore and identify what meaningful volunteer involvement is in ASC, from the perspectives of key informants. Secondary research questions: What does the literature tell us about volunteering internationally and what insights are relevant in the UK context? To what extent did the NHSCVR scheme lead to an increase in volunteer support for ASC providers? Was take-up of the scheme and experiences of its use impacted by its design and implementation? What were the experiences of ASC providers who recruited volunteers through the NHSCVR scheme? Did the availability of volunteers influence the providers (referrers ) perception of the support they could offer care users? To what extent was the NHSCVR scheme accessible to everyone? What are the facilitators, challenges, and perceived impacts of volunteering in ASC providers with existing volunteer involvement, from the perspectives of the ASC workforce, volunteers, those who receive care, and other key informants? What are the barriers to involving and retaining volunteers in parts of ASC where volunteering is less established and how can these be overcome? What data do ASC providers routinely collect on their volunteers? Methods: Mixed methods evaluation in two phases. Phase 1 and 2: Scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature on volunteering in ASC during the COVID-19 pandemic and onwards, exploring barriers, facilitators, and outcomes of volunteering in ASC. We will review data from the UK in Phase 1 to inform and contextualise the study, and then review the international data in Phase 2. Phase 1: Cross-sectional analyses of NHSCVR data from 01.6.23 until 31.01.24, on the characteristics of ASC providers and potential volunteers, matching of ASC providers and volunteers, and volunteer roles and activities. Interviews with stakeholders from ASC and volunteer-involving organisations (n= up to 28), with experience at provider and strategic/national levels, to explore the acceptability and feasibility of the volunteer platform, including impact of the design and implementation of the scheme. This data will be augmented with interviews with diverse ASC providers and local authority teams who registered with NHSCVR to seek volunteer support during June 2023 - March 2024, and other key informants, to inform a lessons learnt piece on ASC in the NHSCVR scheme. Phase 2: We w