Ageing in place – from policy to practice. Consequences of the de-institutionalisation of Swedish eldercare for older people and their family members

In recent decades, there have been drastic reductions in municipal institutional care for older people in Sweden, driven by cost containment measures and by an ageing in place policy. This means that an increasing proportion of frail older people are dependent on help in their own homes.

The aim of the project is to study the impact of the ageing in place policy and the process of de-institutionalisation on the organisation of municipal institutional care, and consequences for older people and their family members.

Some of the research questions are:

• What are the ideas, motives and driving forces behind the Swedish ageing in place policy and practice?
• How have the eligibility criteria and individual characteristics for being admitted to municipal institutional care changed over time?
• How has the length of stay in care homes changed in recent years?
• How are rejections of applications for municipal institutional care motivated?
• How do those who get rejected, and their family members, handle their situation to meet their needs?

This project is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the Aging Research Center (KI & SU), the Department of Social Work (SU), the Equity and Health Policy research group at the Department of Global Public Health (KI) and Stockholm Gerontology Research Center.

Researchers participating in the project

Petra Ulmanen, Ann Liljas, Bettina Meinow, Janne Agerholm, Bo Burström, Lennarth Johansson and Pär Schön (project leader).

Timeline

2022-2024