Yeh, I-Ling (2020) Doing care work for older people : work identities, motivations and barriers to job satisfaction. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
There is an increasing care demand for care home workers have a significant role in meeting residents’ care needs from the admission to a care home up to the end of life. However, there is persistent high care home worker turnover that can negatively impact the quality of care residents receive and care workers’ wellbeing. This thesis aimed to explore care home workers’ perceptions, experiences, and motivations of continuing their work role through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). The first qualitative study (n=22) explored care workers’ perceptions and experiences of providing care for residents from the admission to the care home up to the end of life. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Participants’ accounts reflected that social interaction had a significant role in facilitating the development of their work identities and encouraging them to remain employed in the care homes. The second study (quantitative, n=207) that built on the findings of study 1 investigated how care home workers’ perceptions towards their work roles, psychosocial attributes, psychological needs, and motivation influence their organisational commitment and job satisfaction using structural equation modelling. The study suggested a contextual significance of satisfying care workers’ psychological needs which then shapes their motivation and influences their organisational commitment and job satisfaction. The third study (qualitative, n=10) that complimented the findings of study 1 and 2 was to understand managers’ perspectives on care workers’ support needs and how they provide support to their care workers in the care homes using thematic analysis. Participants’ accounts reflected that meeting care workers’ autonomy need and enhance the effectiveness of communication between managers and care workers helped convey care home values and the meanings of care work to care workers, foster a positive work environment, and improve teamwork. This thesis contributes to the theoretical understanding of care workers’ work identities and motivations of continuing their care worker role. As a career that is dominated by people and interactions with people, social interaction has a significant role in facilitating care workers to establish their work identities and implement role expectations and the meanings of care work in their care practice, satisfying their psychological needs at work, and experiencing a higher organisational commitment and job satisfaction. This thesis highlights the significance of the consistency in management practices which helps eliminate the incongruences care home workers experienced between their work identities and the real job of caring and facilitate the development and maintenance of a stable and positive care home culture. This thesis has the potential to inform or devise interventions with evidence-based information to enhance care workers’ retention and wellbeing.
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