Matosevic, Tihana
(2009)
Profit or care: The motivations of care home owners and managers in England.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
Social care actors' motivations and attitudes play a central role in the delivery of services. This thesis examines the underlying motivations for providing care home services for older people, drawing data from private, voluntary and local authority homes in eight areas of England. The study explores care home owners'/managers' motivations. The majority of respondents were found to be primarily motivated by meeting the needs of older people and professional achievements. With regards to professional motivations, interviewees reported high levels of job satisfaction. Care home owners/managers were satisfied with their career choice and felt that, through their work, they were contributing to society as a whole. The study identified a range of personal and external factors that could influence owners'/managers' intrinsic motivations and professional aspirations. Local authority commissioners' perceptions of care-home owners'/managers' motivations are also identified as playing an important role. Commissioners' views of care home owners'/managers' motivations, their perceived strengths and weaknesses, and their motivations will have a bearing on commissioning decisions. The results indicate that owners/managers are generally perceived by commissioners as highly altruistic, but also relatively financially motivated individuals. Further analysis revealed significantly different views towards profit maximising, which commissioners perceive as very important, while providers consider it to be of little motivational value. Private sector care home owners/managers are described by commissioners as significantly more motivated by personal income. Associations are found between commissioners' perceptions of motivations and the nature of their relationships with providers. The study also examined changes in owners'/managers' motivations between 1994 and 2003. The findings indicated that, overall, care home owners'/managers' main motivations remained unchanged over time. The policy implications of the main findings are discussed with a specific focus on care home owners'/managers' intrinsic motivations, commissioner- provider relationships, and the role of motivations in social care markets.
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