Recruitment and data collection

During the early stages of the research, one of the authors performed visits to units in the home care setting (AL). The purpose of these visits was to invite a strategic sample of informants to attend the research. The recruitment process was completed via e-mail.

Data was collected from one home care unit which consisted of four home care wards. A total of nine interviews were conducted. All interviews were carried out by one researcher (AL), except for one that was carried out by two researchers (AL and KEB). The participants were: registered nurses (2), unit leader (1), ward managers (4), and pharmacists (2). All data was collected at the home care workplace except one interview that was conducted at the university campus. Non-participants were not present. The consent form held information on the main objectives of the research.

The leaders and managers participating in this study were healthcare personnel and formally appointed “mid-level leaders,” i.e., individuals who supervise others and manage home care units or wards through a moderate level of authority. For simplicity, both unit leaders and ward managers will be collectively referred to as “home care leaders” in this paper.

Semi-structured interviews were carried out in November 2022 and February 2023. Each interview lasted for 25–70 min and was audiotaped. Field notes were made after each interview. All interviews were transcribed verbatim by two researchers (AL and KEB). All participants received a ‘thank you’ voucher worth £50 upon completion of the interview.