ORCID
- Felix Gradinger: 0000-0001-8335-4047
Abstract
When Mari, a person with diabetes and mental health challenges experiencing homelessness needed care, the hospital could treat their immediate health challenges but couldn’t address why they kept returning. It was a small community organization, with deep neighbourhood knowledge, flexible funding, and trusted relationships—that provided the wraparound support that finally broke the cycle. This story, repeated countless times across health systemsworldwide, raises a fundamental question: Why do we refer to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) as the “third sector” when it’s often the first to respond, innovate, and reach those most in need?Over the past decade, integrated care has evolved beyond coordinating medical services to embrace truly holistic, person-centred approaches that address social determinants of health. This shift has highlighted the essential role of voluntary and community organizations, yet their contributions remain undervalued, underfunded, and poorly understood within health systems. This special issue challenges that positioning, presenting evidence that the VCS may be better positioned than traditional health services to deliver the values and outcomes that integrated care promises
DOI Link
Publication Date
2025-09-19
Publication Title
International Journal of Integrated Care
Volume
25
Issue
3
ISSN
1568-4156
Acceptance Date
2025-09-03
Deposit Date
2025-10-13
Funding
FG is funded to conduct independent research by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) programme [NIHR151310]. The Plymouth HDRC is part of the NIHR, hosted by Plymouth City Council in partnership with the University of Plymouth, with support from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for the South West Peninsula (PenARC) and the NIHR South West Peninsula Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Additional Links
Keywords
Third Sector, Voluntary and Community Sector, charity, integrated care
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
First Page
29
Last Page
29
Recommended Citation
Miller, R., Nelson, M., Fullerton, I., Gradinger, F., Rees, J., & Saragosa, M. (2025) 'Voluntary & Community Organisations: Not the Third but the First Sector of Integrated Care?', International Journal of Integrated Care, 25(3), pp. 29-29. Available at: 10.5334/ijic.10183
