Results

Events

• 25-27/05/2025 - Symposium at Transforming Care Conference, Helsinki
  The QWoRe research team will present and discuss the project and its findings in a symposium dedicated to the quality of work in the long-term care sector in Italy, England, and the USA. This symposium will take place as part of the international “Transforming Care Conference”
• 26/05/2025 - Workshop “Where are careworkers going? Understanding and addressing the challenge of staff shortages in the Italian long-term care services”
  Building on the initial research findings of the LeTs-Care (Learning from long-term care practices for the European Care Strategy) and QWoRe projects, researchers, policymakers, professionals, service providers, and social partners will discuss one of the most significant challenges facing long-term care systems in Europe

• 14-15/04/2025 - Working Seminar, Venice
  The QWoRe research team meeting aims to advance the project and discuss some of its intermediate results with national discussants. These findings will form the basis for future publications

Publications

• QWoRe research team (2025), infographic brochure “Il lavoro di cura nelle residenze per anziani”

• Da Roit Barbara, Golfetto Giorgia, Iannuzzi Francesco E., Pasian Pamela (2025), Fuga “nel” labirinto: traiettorie del personale sociosanitario e frammentazione istituzionale del sistema delle residenze per anziani [ITA]
  The residential care sector for dependent elderly persons in Italy is characterized by a growing labor short-age. In addition to the long-standing shortage of nurses, there is also a shortage of personal care workers. Contributing to this shortage is the tendency of both these professionals to «flee» to the health-hospital sector. However, based on a recent debate and the narratives of key informants, the intensity of this shortage shows significant variations within the residential care sector, especially in relation to the legal nature and management of the facilities. The aim of this contribution is to clarify the processes that originated in this situation and to analyze the strategies in place, starting from the case study of the Veneto Region. Through the analysis of policy documents at a national, regional and local level, the analysis of national collective agreements applied to the sector and interviews with stakeholders and privileged actors, the paper intends to contribute to the debate on the segmentation processes of care work, highlighting how within the same sector dualization dynamics may emerge.
• Arlotti Marco, Bernardi Luigi, Ciommi Mariateresa, Sarti Simone, Da Roit Barbara, Gilardi Silvia, Golfetto Giorgia, Iannuzzi Francesco Eugenio, Neri Stefano, Rossotti Ludovica, Spina Elena (2025), Policy brief 01, "Le lavoratrici e i lavoratori di cura nelle residenze per le persone anziane: cosa sappiamo e cosa abbiamo bisogno di sapere" [Care Workers in Long-term Care Residential Services in Italy: What We Know and What We Need to Know]

• Da Roit Barbara, Gilardi Silvia, Golfetto Giorgia, Iannuzzi Francesco Eugenio, Rossotti Ludovica, Sarti Simone, Arlotti Marco, Ciommi Mariateresa, Neri Stefano, Spina Elena (2025), Research report Milestone 1
  This report is the result of collaborative work within the QWoRe research team in the first phase of the project. It provides a multidisciplinary and integrated analytical framework, incorporating various theoretical, methodological, and empirical approaches. This framework is based on a comprehensive review of the literature on quality of work, including its conceptualization, operationalisation, measurement, determinants, and outcomes. The report discusses the challenges in defining and measuring quality of work, emphasizing the lack of consensus on terminology and the multidimensional nature of the concept. It also acknowledges the evolution of quality of work research, its interdisciplinary nature, and the contribution of various fields such as labour sociology, organisational studies, the psychology of work, the study of professions, the sociology of emotions, and feminist studies of care. Additionally, the report presents a review of international and Italian literature on QWoL in LTC residential settings, focusing on the specific dimensions, outcomes, and determinants of QoWL in this sector. The analytical framework based on the literature analysis and discussion and summarised at the end of the report will guide the project's data collection and analysis and contribute to the scientific and policy debate on QoWL.
• Arlotti Marco, Bernardi Luigi, Ciommi Mariateresa, Sarti Simone, Da Roit Barbara, Gilardi Silvia, Golfetto Giorgia, Iannuzzi Francesco Eugenio, Neri Srefano, Rossotti Ludovica, Spina Elena (2025), Research report Milestone 2
  This report constitutes Deliverable 2 of Milestone 2 - Analyzing the main features and variations over time, space and sector of the quality of care work in Italy within the QWoRe project. By conducting a secondary analysis of data from the Istat Labour Force Survey, the report aims to describe the working conditions of care workers employed in long-term care residential facilities in Italy, with a particular focus on care assistants. The analysis – specifically the selection of variables considered – is guided by the theoretical-analytical framework developed within the project, which should be consulted for a discussion of the concept of quality of working life, its constituent elements, relevant dimensions, antecedents, and outcomes (Da Roit et al., 2024). The research report is structured into four main sections. Following this brief introduction, Section 2 outlines the database and methodological choices made. Sections 3 and 4 present the descriptive data analysis. Specifically, Section 3 analyzes several dimensions related to quality of work, job satisfaction, their determinants, and outcomes for personal care assistants in residential settings, drawing comparisons with other professional profiles and occupational sectors. Section 4, conversely, develops a specific focus on personal care assistants in residential facilities through contingency tables that cross-reference variables related to quality of work, satisfaction, and outcomes with their determinants (personal characteristics, organizational, and territorial context). Section 5 concludes the report by summarizing its main findings and outlining future research developments.
• Arlotti Marco, Bernardi Luigi, Ciommi Mariateresa, Rossotti Ludovica (2024), “Il lavoro nelle residenze per anziani” [Work in the residential care sector for older people]
  This article aims to analyze the working conditions in the residential care sector for older people in Italy, focusing on care workers. Firstly, the employment in the residential care sector is analyzed and discussed from a comparative perspective. Secondly, the working conditions ofcare workers are compared to other types of workers with a specific focus on the italian case. This comparison shows the existence of con-ditions in line, or better, than for equivalent workers employed in other sectors. At the same time, such conditions are more critical when com-pared to care workers employed in the hospital sector. Finally, the re-search results are discussed in light of the main problematic features characterizing the institutional configuration of the residential care sec-tor for older people in Italy.
  Keywords: Care workers; Working conditions; Residential care sector; Italy
• Falsone Maurizio (2024), “Integrazione socio-sanitaria e Pnrr: impatti sul lavoro e problemi regolativi" [Social-health integration and NRRP: impacts on labour and regulatory problems]
  The author discusses the impact of the healthcare model outlined by the NRRP on personnel management and protection, noting the absence of regulatory strategies for a sustainable transition to more personalized and community-based care. This gap is attributed to political decisions and regulatory fragmentation in healthcare work, particularly in social and healthcare services across public and private sectors. This situation raises doubts about achieving effective socio-health service integration through workplace regulation. The author also observes a convergence in public and private sector regulations, which reduces the protective disparity for public workers. However, this trend does not address job protection needs arising from the new socio-health integration model, which demands attention to work quality risks associated with proximity strateies, personalization, and private/informal sector involvement.
  Keywords: NRRP; Health care system; Socio-health integration; Protection of workers; Outsourcing; Private/public divide.