Exploring volunteers’ role in healthcare service ecosystems: value co-creation, self-adjustment and re-humanisation

Purpose The paper investigates how the engagement of a group of actors (the volunteers), previously unexplored in service ecosystems literature, contributes to generating new co-creation activities and well-being outcomes in the healthcare service ecosystem (HSE). Moreover, the study analyses how th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of service management 2024-06
Main Authors: Di Pietro, Laura, Ungaro, Veronica, Renzi, Maria Francesca, Edvardsson, Bo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business Administration
Företagsekonomi
Healthcare service ecosystems
Self-adjustment
Service re-humanisation
Value co-creation activities
Volunteer
Well-being
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Summary:Purpose The paper investigates how the engagement of a group of actors (the volunteers), previously unexplored in service ecosystems literature, contributes to generating new co-creation activities and well-being outcomes in the healthcare service ecosystem (HSE). Moreover, the study analyses how the provision and integration of volunteers' resources help to explain the HSE self-adjustment favouring the re-humanisation of service.Design/methodology/approach The article zooms in on the volunteers' activities in an HSE. A qualitative approach is adopted, and an empirical investigation is grounded in data gathered from Kids Kicking Cancer (KKC) Italia, a volunteer association operating in the paediatric oncology ward of Italian hospitals. Data are collected and triangulated through in-depth interviews, volunteers' diaries and observations. The analysis is conducted by adopting an interpretative thematic analysis technique.Findings The study provides a conceptual framework explaining how volunteers' value co-creation activities influence the HSE's self-adjustment by leading to a re-humanisation of services. The paper also contributes to the state of knowledge by identifying seven categories of volunteers' value co-creation activities, two of which are completely new in the literature (co-responsibility and empowerment).Originality/value The paper contributes to the service research literature by identifying empirically grounded value co-creation activities extending the understanding of self-adjustment and re-humanisation of the service ecosystem.
ISSN:1757-5818
1757-5826
DOI:10.1108/JOSM-02-2023-0081