Project A2-2007 Co-operative Models of Social Care

Abstract

The project will examine the specific role played by co-operatives in the design and delivery of social care. In recent years, there has been a major shift both in public policy and in public expectations concerning the roles and responsibilities of governments and the private sector with respect to the provision of social services. Canada is not different in this respect than many other western countries. One result of this shift has been increasing pressure on organizations within the social economy to redefine their own roles with regard to social care. The emergence of co-operative models for the delivery of social care has in large measure been a response to this change in government roles and public policy. In everything from health care to services for people with disabilities, co-ops have been created to respond to what many see as a failure of the public sector on the one hand, and a concern around the privatization of social care on the other. This project will ex...