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Background: The care for the older adults is facing major challenges with the growing proportion of older people. This entails a need to find new ways to cope with the tasks of elderly care, and digitalization is seen as part of the solution. In order to succeed with digitalizing, the first-line managers in elderly care needs knowledge of change management and digitalization. That knowledge needs to be obtained via educational efforts.

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the experiences of first-line managers within elderly care after they recieved training in change management and digitalization. The aim was further to examine their perspectives on the influencing factors when it comes to leading change management in digitalization.

Method: The method was a qualitative interview study with an inductive research approach and the sample consisted of first-line managers within elderly care in a medium-sized Swedish municipality. Semi-structured interviews were conducted which were analyzed by qualitative inductive content analysis. 

Results: Four main categories emerged; perspectives on implemented educational efforts; identified potential, barriers and needs in change management and digitalization; responsibilities and roles in change management and digitalization; and perspectives on care users when using health and welfare technology. Potential and barriers included assent from management, cooperation between colleagues, influence of the first-line managers' level of interest, resources, goals and strategies. It also included prioritization of daily operations, employee needs, resistance and information about purpose, implementation process and technology. In order for the first-line managers in elderly care to achieve the expected benefit with training on change management and digitalization, the expectations needs to be well defined.

Conclusion: Educational efforts in change management and digitalization alone are not enough to achieve a successful implementation of health and welfare technology in municipal care for the elderly. Digitalization is an ongoing process of changes and the first-line managers can-not do it by themselves. The preferred practice is to be able to create the conditions for interested employees to drive the work of digitalization within their respective operation.