RESOURCE 7

Case Studies

Three Case Studies Related To Community Services

CASE STUDY 1

The VOLSERV Project

Case Study Discussion

Read the description of the VOLSERV Project, then discuss the following
questions:
1. Do you think this is a practical and required service in Malta?
2. Would you see any limitations to this project?
3. How can you or your family members possibly benefit from this project?

VOLSERV is a Malta Resource Centre (MRC) project in joint collaboration with the Ministry of
Health, the Elderly and Community Care.

The key project is called VOLSERV aimed at:

Developing and organising voluntary services Setting up and administration of a Malta Health
to support patients and relatives in the main Network and capacity building events for
general hospital as well as in the community. health NGOs.

The main aims of VOLSERV Hospital are:

- Enhancing the experience of the relatives of patients

- Enhancing quality of overall patient experience
- Providing a personal response to patients
- Adding value to the work of the hospital staff, through the creation of roles of value for the
volunteers
- Offering rewarding opportunities for the volunteers, a chance to meet new people, feel a
sense of satisfaction etc.
- Voluntary Services in Hospital e.g.: guiding for relatives in the new hospital, greeting and
providing assistance to patients in the out-patients department; reading to patients’ etc.

The main aims of VOLSERV Community are:

- Promoting health in the community through non-medical services

- Preventing people at risk of social exclusion from becoming isolated
- Understanding the health needs of the Maltese community better through ongoing research
- Tapping into the energy and enthusiasm of individuals who are willing to give up their time
to volunteer in the community and empower individuals
Voluntary services to facilitate Health Care in the Community e.g.: supporting the elderly
within the community; developing the information-delivery service for patients and their
relatives at health centres.

Training: All the volunteers recruited undergo a basic course which include the following areas:
Communication, basic hygiene, information about the Out-patients clinics and the Health Centres.
Source: Malta Resource Centre for civil society NGO’s. (2007). Retrieved August 15, 2007, from
http://mrc.org.mt/page.asp?p=7122
CASE STUDY 2

Programm Ulied Darna

Case Study Discussion

Read the description of the Programm Ulied Darna, then discuss the
following questions:
1. Do you think this is a practical and required service in Malta? Why?
2. Do you know of any community members who experienced any of the
Programm projects?
3. How can different community members possibly benefit from this?

Programm Ulied Darna is a service in which professionally trained volunteers, under the guidance
of employed staff, offer time, skills, friendship, material support (in case of Proġett Tereża),
information and practical help to facilitate the life of families who are under stress in their own
homes in order to promote the enjoyment of family life.

Aims and Objectives

The main aim of Programm Ulied Darna is to build on the parent as the sustaining agent in the
child's life, to consider the home as the sustaining background, with the help of volunteers offering
their service in diverse programmes of support suiting the needs of particular families.

Programm Ulied Darna consists of 4 projects:

1. Proġett Flimkien:
This project is aimed at working with parents on parental skills, such as effective methods of
discipline, bonding and communicating with children, as well as other basic skills such as
budgeting skills, housekeeping skills, child care, baby care, nutrition, cooking and sewing amongst
others. Furthermore, volunteers also offer emotional support to parents in need.

2. Proġett Ħsibt Fik:

This project is aimed at providing more practical help, such as helping parents by accompanying
them for appointments at hospital or private clinics, transportation of clients, helping the children
with their homework, and child minding and child respite whilst the parent or carer is on the
premises of Aġenzija Appoġġ.

3. Proġett Tereża:
This project consists of collecting donations by the public and distributing these donations to people
in need. Everyday, social workers make several requests to voluntary organizations, asking for
various items to distribute amongst those service users who are facing financial difficulties. Proġett
Tereża aims at catering for some of the material needs of various families who are living below the
average standard of living.

4. Parenting Skills Groups:

These are offered to Aġenzija Appoġġ service users. Parents attend a seven-week course on
parenting in order to learn new skills and also learn from each other's experiences relating to
parenting.

Source: Community and Generic Services: Appogg. (2007). Retrieved August 15, 2007, from
http://www.appogg.gov.mt/communityandgeneric_genericservices_programmulieddarna.asp
CASE STUDY 3

Aċċess - Cottonera Community Resource Centre

Case Study Discussion

Read the description of the Aċċess - Cottonera Community Resource Centre, then
discuss the following questions:
The Policy
1. Do youDevelopment
think this isand Programme
a practical andImplementation Directorate
required approach within the
in certain Ministry for in
communities the
Family and Social
Malta? Why?Solidarity, in conjunction with the EU Commission, hosted a peer review
programme: Aċċess within the Cottonera Community Resource Centre. This had particular focus
2. Why do you think that this project has been presented as an example of good
on social welfare services for children and families.
practise in an EU peer review?
3. How can different community members possibly benefit from such approaches?

Aċċess aims "to be a catalyst for sustainable community development and long-term social change
through a genuinely collaborative, participatory, holistic and empowering approach which improves
the quality of life for all residents in Cottonera and Kalkara".

Aċċess provides a focused and holistic response to the needs and realities of the local community.
The philosophy of Aċċess has mainly been that of moving away from an interventionist approach
based on service provision and consumption, towards one supporting community initiatives by
involving and empowering individuals and organisations to foster a sense of ownership and initiate
a culture change that is sensitive and respectful towards people's actual situations and experiences.
The major principles include:
- supporting the family as the best environment for personal growth;
- mobilising resources within the community;
- building informal and formal support networks; and
- developing the individual potential in order to create self-reliance rather than dependency.

Apart from the general community, Aċċess also caters for various specific vulnerable groups, which
among others include unemployed people, persons with a disability, persons with mental health
difficulties, and persons with housing and literacy difficulties.

Through its ‘Smartkids’ childcare facility, Aċċess also directly impacts on the life of children by
providing a safe and constructive environment that not only enhances children's development and
their future life prospects under the care of professional personnel, but also promotes the quality of
life of their families by making it easier for parents, particularly mothers, to strike a balance
between their personal life, family relationships/obligations and work.

Aċċess also provides prevention programmes that create awareness and thus facilitate early
intervention strategies.

The Aċċess model is being reflected in various community-based centres in different localities
around Malta, including Cottonera, Kalkara, Valletta, Birkirkara and St Paul's Bay.

Source: Adapted from Scerri, M. (2007). EU peer review. The Times of Malta. Retrieved August 15, 2007, from
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/print_article.php?id=270110