The rise (or fall) of the community-based care for the elderly: Exploration of local networks in implementing social innovations in China and the Netherlands

In the coming decades, the population aging is predicted to put a massive burden to public sectors all over the globe. The first frostbites of this demographic winter have already made public sectors to seek creative solutions... [ view full abstract ]

In the coming decades, the population aging is predicted to put a massive burden to public sectors all over the globe. The first frostbites of this demographic winter have already made public sectors to seek creative solutions that go beyond the traditional forms of hierarchy. A promising approach in social service delivery has been to seek innovations at the community level. Although this phenomenon is not new, the recent political interest to ‘Big’ or ‘Participatory’ societies to empower communities in Europe and beyond reflect the growing position of finding societal solution to the wicket public problems. Even if the collaborative networks would be a solution to the demographic aging, the implementation problems that come along with such multi-level and actor collaboration are even more problematic than those related to traditional policymaking and require urgent attention for the social scientists. The novel research project by University Twente (Netherlands) and Fudan University Shanghai (China) aims at contributing to this knowledge.
In this paper, we explore the innovations implemented in and by the community in the region of Twente (the Netherlands) and Shanghai (China)in the field of elderly care. Our theoretical framework builds on two complementary approaches to networks in public management. The first approach is the collaborative network approach, which focuses on the structural characteristics of networks of organizations—notably public, non-profit, and private organizations for service provision. The collaborative network approach assumes that the structure, governance, and management of these networks are important determinants for the quality of service delivery. Thus, this first approach enables us to explore systematic variation between networks of organizations in their ability to successfully develop and implement social innovations in elderly care. The second approach is the managerial networking approach. Managerial networking studies analyse how externally oriented (network) management, by the top-managers of public organizations, affects the organization’s performance. Thus, this second approach enables us to explore systematic variation between public organizations within collaborative networks in their ability to successfully develop and implement social innovations in elderly care.
The overall goal of the research project is to explore the conditions for successful development and implementation of social innovations in elderly care in a comparative study of China and the Netherlands. The case study of China and the Netherlands opens new horizons for policy implementation analysis by analysing two countries with considerably different institutional and social contexts, but both witnessing currently a birth of variety of community-based innovations in the field of long-term care of the elderly.