Working together: a study on co-produced parenting support services in a Swedish municipality

Abstract

This article describes an evaluation of co-producing parenting support services in a rural municipality in Sweden. The evaluation looked at the implementation process of a series of positive activities for children and their parents, data from the participating parents and the economy of the project. Methods included interviews, questionnaires, observations and a review of protocols, e-mails, and web pages. Both qualitative and quantitative analytical methods were used. We identified two essential components for successful co-production: 1) The balance between the two actors (public and voluntary sector) in terms of interests, commitment and experienced positive impacts and 2) That both actors remain within their core competencies. Parents were satisfied with the number and quality of the activities and reported improvement in their relationship with their child. Costs for the six sessions provided during the project were 1897 SEK/participant for the orienteering club and 2635 SEK/participant for the riding club.