New public managements påverkan på äldreomsorgen : En intervjustudie med enhetschefer om New public managements inarbetning i särskilda boenden för äldre

Sammanfattning: Retirement homes in Sweden are­ constantly characterized by new changes. These activities make up a large part of the Swedish welfare society as a result of an increased aging population. The changes in this study are based on the influence of New Public Management (NPM), which in itself has contributed to efficiency and competition in these services. NPM is a model that aims to streamline operations with ideas from the private sector, but there is also criticism of NPM, which says that NPM has caused a weakening in the Swedish welfare sector. With the aim of analyzing how NPM is incorporated in municipal and private retirement homes, interviews have been conducted with unit managers in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. To understand the work of NPM, the study has been interpreted on the basis of Blomberg's NPM model, which is adapted to municipal elderly care and new institutional theory. From the institutional theory Eriksson-Zetterquist's three forces have been helpful. The results of this survey show that all activities are affected by the different NPM concepts and the forces. There are both similarities and differences regarding how the incorporation of NPM looks and how the working methods in the business is designed accordingly. For the private retirement homes, NPM is perceived more than often obvious when in comparison with the municipal operations. For example, they work more with streamlining, which is NPM's main purpose, they have greater responsibility for the financials. The municipal activities, however, are beginning to show more and more evidence of this development. They emphasize the importance of profiling as they express that it is a competitive situation that has arisen between the special housing accommodations such as retirement homes. Despite the fact that the majority of the municipalities do not say that they have come a long way with the efficiency improvements so far, it is taking place and there is a great idea about how it should be designed and work in the operations. The study also gives the opportunity to interpret it as a change in how municipal and private activities mimic each other, but also that the NPM may not be a deliberate choice of unit managers despite their way of working with the NPM concepts. Retirement homes can be seen as a field. Accordning to how the NPM-concepts are incorporated, we were able to see how the field is homogenized using isorphic forces.