How provider organisations interpret regulation in the context of residential dementia aged care.

OBJECTIVE

To explore how Australian residential dementia aged care providers respond to regulation via organisational culture, level, processes and interpretation.

METHODS

Observation took place in three provider organisations. Qualitative, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with aged care staff (n = 60) at three different levels of each organisation: senior management from three head offices (n = 17), facility management (n = 13) and personal care workers (n = 30) from eight residential care facilities.

RESULTS

Orientations towards regulation included the following: "above and beyond;" "pushing back;" and "engineering out." Regulation was interpreted differently depending on the level of authority within an organisation where boundaries were managed according to strategic, operational and interactional priorities.

DISCUSSION

Examining regulation within an organisational context and at different staff levels suggests ways to balance dementia care with regulatory control. Both generate stress, mitigated by culture and interdependent role differentiation.