Elderly Care in Transition: Management, Meaning and Identity at Work. A Scandinavian Perspective

In Scandinavia, work in elderly care is a principal occupation and constitutes an important part of professional care work. Over the last decade, this sector has become a test piece for New Public Management (NPM). It is the area where NPM-inspired rationales and methodologies have been applied to the greatest extent. This book explores the challenges and future possibilities in elderly care from a working life perspective. Researchers from three Scandinavian countries present new studies of the daily work in elderly care, the change of tasks and services, and the reconstruction of a semi-profession. The specific translation of NPM into the Scandinavian context is examined, and how this affects: the meaning and identity of work in elderly care and the possibilities to reconstruct meaning under standardized working conditions * the new ideals of line management of elderly care and the ambiguities between bureaucracy and professionalism * subjectivity and emotions as a decisive element of the work in elderly care * the creation of new professionalism in pockets of the sector * the shifts in valuation of experience-based knowledge and care orientation. The book draws attention to new trends in the sector that may make way for transforming the logic of NPM, and thus points to possibilities that will enrich working life.