This research is a review of the literature about freephone helplines and how they are used to provide social services support.
The research found that helplines remain an important channel for:
- reaching a wide range of people with different needs
- delivering social services.
Helplines appear to work particularly well when they are integrated with other services.
This report was commissioned at the request of the Associate Minister for Social Development as part of the Ministerial Social Sector Research Fund, which is used to respond to research and evaluation questions from Ministers. The research was conducted by Allen + Clarke.