Summary Time points - A concept for mutual payment of voluntary work Hilten, R. van (Qoin) InnovationNetwork Report No. 11.2.266, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 2011. Ageing is more topical than ever. Early this year the media reported at length about the record number of Dutch people reaching the age of 65 in 2011: no less than 120,000. This poses a tremendous challenge: to guarantee good afFordable care and support for a growing group of elderly people and others with special needs. In the past decades, however, various developments, both of a demographic/socio-cultural and economic/technological nature, have made a radical overhaul and renewal of our existing healthcare system imperative. Given the current financial crisis and the government’s need to cut spending, there is a great demand for new solutions. One specific question is: how can we activate citizens to take responsibility themselves? In Japan, the US and the UK encouraging experiences have been gained with concepts where residents are rewarded for social participation. Taking our inspiration from this example, we have presented a Dutch interpretation of the social participation idea in this document. The aim is to provide a new set of professional instruments for encouraging society to support their fellow citizens. The concept is a programme in which people are rewarded for their services to society, particularly their services as a carer. Participants request and offer support from and to each other. Each participant defines him/herself both as a service provider and as a service user. In contrast with ordinary voluntary work or neighbourly help, the concept rewards every hour of voluntary work. This reward is expressed in points and every hour of work is worth an ‘hour’ of credit. The reward system does not necessarily mean that the recipient (of the care) owes something to the giver; he can also spend his hours with any other participant in the network. Not only citizens take part in the network. Healthcare institutions, municipalities and businesses all play a central role. Citizens primarily perform services on behalf of organizations and (semi-) government institutions. These services are delivered either to other citizens or directly to the organization or institution itself. Public service providers and retailers act as a cash-in point for earned hours; these hours are worth a discount or a gift. 24 Pagina 29
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