In order to ensure that everyone in the industry is using the same terminology, and to help CASPA members ensure they are targeting the right people, we are creating in conjunction with Digital Social Care as set of personas for people at care providers. We have split this into three categories that fit broadly the size of organisations. These categories are:

  1. Single home or maybe up to three homes, where the owner normally has close knowledge of what is going on in the care home, but often gives decisions on changes to the home manager
  2. Mid-sized organisations, normally from three to 20 care homes, where there is a senior management team that makes decisions to ensure the changes are consistent across the organisation
  3. Organisations with 20 or more care homes, where there are layers of decision making, with regional managers which can have a level of autonomy

Personas for single homes or small groups up to three homes that we see the following types of people:

  • Owner – normally able to make decisions quickly, and understands the benefit of reducing costs and improving efficiency. Often cedes decision making to the home manager, but this depends on how much the like to control their business, and how much they trust their staff
  • Home manager – normally has absolute decision making powers for anything to do with the home.
  • Senior carer/nurse – often a small group of people and it can be hard for the home to retain these people – so the home manager is normally keen to ensure they are well looked after and they are included in decisions relating to change
  • Carer – normally these people are valued, and decisions on change will often include their views

Personas for mid-sized organisations that we see are:

  • Owner – normally ceded decision to the management team
  • Management – normally there is a board of trustees or a management board that have to be included in any decision to make changes. Sometimes the management team have strong front-line care experience, but often they come from different backgrounds. There is quite a range of speed of decision making, but generally they are quicker than large organisations but slower than single homes. They tend to make decisions for the whole organisation, so it is common to have a system implemented at every home once it has been accepted.
  • Home manager – depends more on the style of organisation as to how these people will be included in decision making, but it is not uncommon for home managers to be excluded, and this can lead to an element of conflict when implementing change
  • Senior carer/nurse – again, this varies, but when the home manager is involved in decision making then the seniors views are taking into account.
  • Carer – it is uncommon for carers to be expected to go along with any changes, with decisions being made “in there interests” but not involving them. There are many exceptions to this though, as there is quite a variation across the sector

Personas for large organisations

  • Owner – normally investors or a charity with little involvement in front-line care
  • Senior Management – often cede decision making to a team appointed for each change – and when looking at digital it will often involve people in IT, who have a tendency to care more about hardware and software roll-out, hosting and maintenance than about the impact on the business. Normally go through a very formal and structured decision making process.
  • Regional / area directors/managers – normally very influential, but not always aligned to the overall organisation goals. It is not uncommon to win an opportunity to implement a change, only to be limited to a small number of homes that will adopt the change
  • Home manager – the team appointed for any change will normally seek the views of a number of home managers, so they are involved in the process, but it is not uncommon for the terms of involvement to be set by the senior management team , which can lead to poorer conclusions to decision making process.
  • Senior carer/nurse/carer – the team appointed to make the change will normally seek the views of people from across the organisation, but it is common for these people to be excluded from the decision making process.