The first working paper of the evaluation of the public health outcomes of the Cambridgeshire Time Credits project in Wisbech has just been published. It provides an overview of time banking and time credits. Part of the NIHR funded Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme (PHPES), the aim of the evaluation is to determine the project’s potential to tackle social exclusion, loneliness and deprivation and to assess the extent to which it can reduce health inequalities.
The purpose of this first working paper is to set the context for the evaluation. It provides:
- An overview of the time banking movement and its origins
- Looks at how time banks work
- The different ways in which the time banking approach has been utilised
- The key characteristics and core values associated with time banking
- The benefits of time banking and the enablers and obstacles to achieving positive outcomes
- The way in which the time credit model this research project focuses on has developed from time banking and how the time credit model has been implemented in Cambridgeshire.
