Organization, responsibility and practice of food provision in home-help service

Abstract

Purpose – In the home help service, food provision is one common welfare service that involves different professionals at different levels within a social organisation. The purpose of this paper is to examine how different professionals involved in this sector view and describe their work and responsibilities. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was designed based on interviews with 17 professionals representing different positions in the organisation, and an inductive thematic analysis was carried out. Findings – The various professionals’ views of food provision mainly focus on the meal box and other meals seem to receive much less attention. The professionals also illuminated their respective roles within the food provision organisation by means of boundaries and split responsibilities, and expressed a view of food provision as an issue for outsourcing. The restricted manner in which food provision was viewed and described illuminates a risk of food insecurity for dependent people in home help service situations. Originality/value – The restriction of how food provision was viewed and described illuminates a risk of food insecurity for dependent people in home help service.