Is there a role for hybrid service provision in place-based initiatives within the human services sector? Findings from an Australian exploratory study

Abstract

The value of place-based initiatives in the design and delivery of human services has long been recognised, but the need for hybrid service delivery to clients—that is any combination of online and in-person modalities—has become more apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. At face value, there may be a perceived contradiction between the reliance on geographical place in place-based initiatives and online service delivery. Yet, it is inevitable that human services will increasingly be delivered in a hybrid form—even in the context of place-based initiatives. This exploratory study included a modified Delphi method and deliberative panels with policymakers, service providers, and academics with experience and/or knowledge of hybrid place-based initiatives. A central finding was the lack of respondents’ shared understanding and ability to link the three central intersecting ideas being examined in this research: ‘hybrid’ and ‘place-based’ and ‘human services’. The principles underpinning place-based initiatives need to be retained when incorporating online service delivery within place-based initiatives. This reflects the need to develop a shared lexicon on hybrid place-based initiatives and more creative understandings and interpretations of the relationship between people and place. Points for practitioners: Increasingly, human services are being designed, implemented, and delivered through place-based initiatives, yet the success of place-based initiatives often relies on more than just face-to-face service delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted many human services online, but how this has impacted on place-based initiatives and their defining features of co-location, collaboration, and co-design has not been explored to date. Following the pandemic, both service providers and clients see the benefit in retaining and integrating face-to-face and online services, without understanding how best to achieve this with place-based initiatives. This study draws on practices developed during the pandemic to understand how to best provide hybrid services (integrating in-person and online services) and shows the relevance of hybrid services to place-based initiatives and considerations moving forward.