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Purpose Aging populations are facing shortages of professional care workers. These workers’ working conditions in older people care services have raised concerns. Leadership that focuses on social interaction is believed to positively affect care workers’ well-being. The purpose of this study was to map the existing research on frontline managers’ interactional and discursive practices in older people care services, focusing specifically on what managers accomplish through talk. Design/methodology/approach This study identified relevant studies through a structured search of the ProQuest, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases. This study found additional articles through senior scholars. This study examined the frontline managers’ interactional and discursive practices using thematic content analysis. Findings The scoping review covered 20 articles. Most of the research had been conducted within the last ten years in Nordic countries. Almost all the current research on frontline managers’ discursive practices in older people care have utilized research interviews to collect data. This study generated three themes that capture the meanings constructed through managers’ discourse and social interaction. Originality/value The results of this scoping review demonstrate that although an extensive amount of research on leadership in care work has been conducted, studies focusing specifically on frontline managers’ discursive practices in older people care are limited. Research that comprehensively investigates the nuanced dynamics of interaction between supervisors and care workers is particularly lacking.
Lehto‐Niskala et al. (Thu,) studied this question.