By 2050, Germany will need 1 mio care workers. That is twice as many care workers as are currently employed in Germany. This vacuum cannot and will not be filled by labor migration or an increase in female labor participation. The current status will have negative impact and affect employee groups differently (gender, race). These include low appreciation/pay and inadequate work organization, as the quality of work and care varies in different long-term care settings despite the same framework conditions.

What social innovations are there in residential care for the elderly and what problem-solving potential do they offer for the organisation of work and care? The doctoral project investigates these questions. The theoretical contribution consists of relating the concept of social innovations to work. Empirically, it will be shown what problem-solving potential social innovations (including new forms of work organisation, people-oriented use of digital technologies, etc.) have for the work and care situation in inpatient geriatric care. The design potential is analysed for the following factors: Employability, categories of difference (gender, race), autonomy and participation as well as sustainable change in social practices.

The dissertation project is based on three theoretical approaches: social innovations as a reconfiguration of social practices, sociological concepts of work (System Model of Professional Well-being, Job-Demands-Resources-Model) and perspectives on intersectionality (focus on gender and race). The project follows a qualitative comparative case study design and utilises a triangulation of methods (interviews, observation, surveys). The data is analysed using Mayring's content analysis. The combination of an explorative and explicative approach is important because innovation processes, like the world of work, are in a constant state of change and are not finalised.