Att vara arbetsledare i äldreomsorgen : 13 intervjuer med arbetsledare i Halmstad

In this study, thirteen persons, eight women and five men working as supervisors, have been interviewed. All of them were managers of homecare workers or managers of residential homes for elderly in Halmstad. The aim of the study was to examine managers’ experiences of work conditions. The interviews lasted for 25 minutes to an hour and were taped and fully transcribed. The interviews were then analysed in an interview-matrix. A result of the analysis is that the subjects experienced work as stimulating, especially daily meetings and communications with colleagues and clients. According to the analysis, their work conditions otherwise were characterised by high demands, low control and low social support. They felt that they had limited opportunity to affect their work conditions except for routine work. The participants expressed views that the organization of work must change considerably. Directives and tasks were ambiguous and vague. The managers themselves experienced that they received lacking or insufficient guidance, supervision and computer support. At the time of the interview, one manager had moved to another job, one had recently been on sick leave because of stress-related depression and one went on sick leave for the same reason shortly before the interview