Abstract:
Organisations providing human services are under increasing pressure to
demonstrate quality from a range of sources such as new legislation and
new requirements for government funding. Four dimensions for examining
quality, derived from program evaluation theory, illustrated some of the
contradictions surrounding these expectations. The research used a
qualitative and grounded approach to exploring clients', volunteers' and
coordinators' notions of quality service. The clients' and volunteers'
perceptions of quality were highly experiential, related to the specific
context and focussed on strong trusting personal relationships. Clients were
also very conscious of their lack of power. Coordinators used a combination
of approaches to try to satisfy the demands of clients, volunteers and
bureaucracy.
