The purpose of this case study is to gain a deepened understanding of how employees within the home care sector experience their work in general and their working conditions in particular based on which emotions they experience and how the employees handle these emotions. In order to answer the purpose and questions raised in the study, five semistructured interviews were held with home care workers. The study subjects were asked questions aiming to get them to share their knowledge and experiences regarding their working situation. The gathered empirical material was then analyzed with the help of emotional sociological theories and concepts as well as with parts of Goffman´s dramaturgical perspective. The results of the study show that employees working within the home care sector experience a wide range of emotions, where stress is one of the most frequently experienced emotions. Stress is experienced mainly due to the subjects experiencing their work as high demanding and that they lack control over their work. The results also showed that the employees use a mixed approach to their work. On the one hand, the study subjects experience that their identities are closely linked to their work and that close relationships are formed with the home care recipients. On the other hand, the subjects emphasize the importance of separating their individual personal from their professional role as caregivers in order to avoid emotional strains. In their relationship with the home care recipients, the employees must take in to account various emotional rules and the social exchange is characterized by an imbalance in the relationship between home care recipients and workers. Another key aspect of the home care employees working situation emerging from this study is a certain lack of the posterior region which appears during the subject’s lunch breaks. During the lunch break work related topics are discussed and the care giver might have to finish their lunch break early in order to assist a colleague or care recipient.

Uppsatsen syftade till att undersöka faktorer kring hemtjänstpersonalens kvarvarande i yrket samt personalens arbetsvillkor. Datainsamlingen utfördes genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fyra enhetschefer inom både privat och kommunal hemtjänst.  Bidragande orsaker till att personal lämnar yrket framgick som upplevelser av otillräcklighet, bristande påverkans- och utvecklingsmöjligheter samt arbetstidsförläggningen. Faktorer för kvarvarande uppmärksammades som betydelsen av det relationsnära arbetet, kollegialt utbyte, utvecklingsmöjligheter och stöd i arbetet.  Resultatet indikerade på att bristande resurser var skäl till att personal lämnar yrket och betydelsen för personalens kvarvarande har diskuterats utifrån äldreomsorgens kvalité. Äldreomsorgen har likt andra välfärdsverksamheter skyldigheter i att bedrivas på ett sätt som tillgodogör målgruppens behov varför personalens kompetens och erfarenhet blir av stor betydelse. / The study aimed to examine home care workers’ intentions to remain within their profession and working conditions. Data collection was conducted through qualitative interviews with four first-line managers within private and municipal home care. The first-line managers described experiences of inadequacy, lack of influence and development opportunities, and the working hours as reasons for the care workers’ turnover intentions. Factors regarding remaining in the profession were noted as the importance of relational work, collegiate exchange, development opportunities, and support. The results indicated lack of resources as the main reason for home care workers leaving their profession, and the importance of remaining has been discussed based on the quality of elderly care. Elderly care has obligations to be conducted in a manner that meets the needs of the targeted group, which is why the home care workers’ competence and experience are of significant importance.

Le vieillissement de la population et les différentes réformes du système de santé au Québec ont mené à divers bouleversements, et à un déplacement des soins et des services vers le domicile. Les groupes professionnels travaillant dans le secteur du maintien à domicile ont vu leur travail se transformer et évoluer au fil des ans. Selon R. Bourque (1992), qui s’est intéressée à la professionnalisation du métier d’auxiliaire familiale et sociale dans les années 1980 et au début des années 1990, les auxiliaires familiales et sociales font partie des travailleuses ayant connu le plus de changement dans la nature de leurs tâches depuis leur intégration à l’intérieur de la santé et des services sociaux en 1972. Notre recherche s’intéresse à l’évolution des pratiques professionnelles des auxiliaires familiales et sociales en CLSC au Québec depuis les années 1990. L’étude réalisée à l’aide de huit entretiens semi-dirigés portant sur l’évolution des pratiques des AFS depuis les années 1990, a permis de saisir et de comprendre l’évolution des tâches et des fonctions de ces AFS à partir de leur quotidien. Les résultats démontrent une spécialisation accrue du travail vers les soins d’hygiène et les actes délégués de type infirmier. Toutefois, l’hétérogénéité des pratiques de ces AFS témoigne de la survie de certaines tâches, notamment au niveau des activités de la vie domestique (AVD). L’enjeu majeur de ce groupe professionnel se situe dans la consolidation d’une association plus forte et plus inclusive afin de faire valoir leurs revendications et faire face aux défis qu’elles doivent surmonter au quotidien afin de faire reconnaître leur travail. / The aging population and the various reforms within the health system in Quebec have led to various changes over the years. Professional groups working in the field of home care services have seen their work transformed and evolved over the past decades. According to Bourque (1992), who was interested in the professionalization of home-care workers in the 1980s and the early 1990s, home-care workers are among the workers who experienced the most change in the nature of their tasks since their integration in the Health and Social Services in 1972. Our research focuses on the evolution of the professional practices of home-care workers in CLSC in Quebec since 1990. This study that was realized with semi-structured interviews with eight home-care workers led to understand the evolution of the tasks and functions of these workers. The result of this research shows a growing specialization of their work as well as increased tasks related to nursing care. However, the heterogeneity of these practices demonstrates the survival of certain tasks, particularly in terms of the activities of daily living. The major challenge in this group lies in the consolidation of a stronger and more inclusive association to assert their claims and to meet the challenges they face every day in order to recognize their work.

Le vieillissement de la population et les différentes réformes du système de santé au Québec ont mené à divers bouleversements, et à un déplacement des soins et des services vers le domicile. Les groupes professionnels travaillant dans le secteur du maintien à domicile ont vu leur travail se transformer et évoluer au fil des ans. Selon R. Bourque (1992), qui s’est intéressée à la professionnalisation du métier d’auxiliaire familiale et sociale dans les années 1980 et au début des années 1990, les auxiliaires familiales et sociales font partie des travailleuses ayant connu le plus de changement dans la nature de leurs tâches depuis leur intégration à l’intérieur de la santé et des services sociaux en 1972. Notre recherche s’intéresse à l’évolution des pratiques professionnelles des auxiliaires familiales et sociales en CLSC au Québec depuis les années 1990. L’étude réalisée à l’aide de huit entretiens semi-dirigés portant sur l’évolution des pratiques des AFS depuis les années 1990, a permis de saisir et de comprendre l’évolution des tâches et des fonctions de ces AFS à partir de leur quotidien. Les résultats démontrent une spécialisation accrue du travail vers les soins d’hygiène et les actes délégués de type infirmier. Toutefois, l’hétérogénéité des pratiques de ces AFS témoigne de la survie de certaines tâches, notamment au niveau des activités de la vie domestique (AVD). L’enjeu majeur de ce groupe professionnel se situe dans la consolidation d’une association plus forte et plus inclusive afin de faire valoir leurs revendications et faire face aux défis qu’elles doivent surmonter au quotidien afin de faire reconnaître leur travail. / The aging population and the various reforms within the health system in Quebec have led to various changes over the years. Professional groups working in the field of home care services have seen their work transformed and evolved over the past decades. According to Bourque (1992), who was interested in the professionalization of home-care workers in the 1980s and the early 1990s, home-care workers are among the workers who experienced the most change in the nature of their tasks since their integration in the Health and Social Services in 1972. Our research focuses on the evolution of the professional practices of home-care workers in CLSC in Quebec since 1990. This study that was realized with semi-structured interviews with eight home-care workers led to understand the evolution of the tasks and functions of these workers. The result of this research shows a growing specialization of their work as well as increased tasks related to nursing care. However, the heterogeneity of these practices demonstrates the survival of certain tasks, particularly in terms of the activities of daily living. The major challenge in this group lies in the consolidation of a stronger and more inclusive association to assert their claims and to meet the challenges they face every day in order to recognize their work.