Including vulnerable citizens in public co-production can have a huge bearing on the quality and equity of the services on which they depend. This study explores the influence of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital networks and the inherent notion of trust on co-production with vulnerable citizens. The study has found the formation of social capital to be a significant influencer on enabling co-production with vulnerable citizens. This is particularly so when engaging the citizens at earlier stages in the public service cycle than the implementation phase. Being engaged at these stages positively influences the motivation to participate. The end-user as co-designer, or co-initiator of public services, is rarely found in the literature. This study contributes to fill this gap. Furthermore, calculus - based trust is identified as a main factor influencing the willingness of potential co-production partners to engage in co-production. The findings are based on observations, documents, and interviews from an extreme case where a group of Danish-Somali women, (this particular group being among the most vulnerable in Danish society), changed from being dismissive potential co-implementers to becoming co-initiators of co-production aimed at preventing crime among Danish-Somali youth.

Parents are a determinant factor in a child’s development of motor skills. Studies show that programmes in which health visitors supervise parents may improve infants’ motor skills. This study examines which factors health visitors have found to enhance and hamper the implementation of a motor development programme among socially vulnerable parents of infants. The data consist of three group interviews with 4 health visitors in each (12 health visitors in total) and a subsequent member check with 27 health visitors. All were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was conducted. The results show that according to the health visitors, the programme increases the ability and willingness of parents to engage in co-producing its implementation. In particular, the materials that they hand out to the parents enhance the implementation. On the other hand, they perceive the limited time provided for the implementation, together with the many pressing needs of the families, as hampering the implementation. Consequently, the study can inform future policies and programmes for frontline workers and socially vulnerable parents of infants.