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‘I don’t want to go back into the closet just because I need care’: recognition of older LGBTQ adults in relation to future care needs
- Authors:
- LOF Jenny, OLAISON Anna
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 23(2), 2020, pp.253-264.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
There is increasing awareness in research about the social service needs of older LGBTQ adults. However, there are few studies that deal with differences in this community regarding elder care services. As a rule, transgender individuals are not included in these studies. This study focuses on how older Swedish LGBTQ adults reason about openness in an elder care context concerning their future needs for services and adopts Nancy Fraser’s theoretical framework of recognition. The material consists of fifteen semi-structured interviews with older LGBTQ adults. The results indicate that the main concern for older LGBTQ individuals is being accepted for their preferred sexual orientation and/or gender identity in elder care. However, there were differences regarding that concern in this LGBTQ group. There were also a variety of approaches in the group as to preferences for equal versus special treatment with respect to their LGBTQ identity. In addition, there were differences as to whether they prefer to live in LGBTQ housing or not. The findings contribute to existing knowledge by highlighting the diverse views on elder care services in both this group of interviewees and its subgroups. These findings emphasise the importance of the social work practice recognising different preferences and having an accepting approach. The results can further provide guidance on how to design elder care services for older LGBTQ adults. (Edited publisher abstract)
Creating images of old people as home care receivers: categorizations of needs in social work case files
- Author:
- OLAISON Anna
- Journal article citation:
- Qualitative Social Work, 9(4), December 2010, pp.500-518.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The process of needs assessment for older people is based on an individuals’ perspective, central to which is how their needs are constructed through documentation and case files. This paper investigates how older people’s needs are defined in home care case files. It examines how this categorisation process is evident in case file documents written by case managers. Discourse analysis was applied to 16 case files from three social work districts in Sweden, resulting in the identification of two general types of case files: the fact-oriented using objective language; and event-oriented case file using more personal language. These two types of case file were shown to depict the individuals quite differently. All case files used several need categories – though social needs were important in describing living conditions, it was medical and physical needs that impinged on home care decisions. The author concludes that the results have practical consequences for the formulation of individual home care assessment, as there is still limited space in the case files for older peoples’ own views.
Handling the dilemma of self-determination and dementia: study of case managers’ discursive strategies in assessment meetings
- Authors:
- OSTERHOLM Johannes H., LARSSON Annika Taghizadeh, OLAISON Anna
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 58(6), 2015, pp.613-636.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
In assessment meetings concerning care services for people with dementia, Swedish case managers face a dilemma. On the one hand, according to the law, the right to self-determination of every adult citizen must be respected, but on the other hand cognitive disabilities make it difficult to fulfil obligations of being a full-fledged citizen. In this article, the authors examine 15 assessment meetings to identify discursive strategies used by case managers to handle this dilemma. The authors also examine how these affect the participation of persons with dementia, and indicate implications of their study for social work practice and research. (Edited publisher abstract)
Care managers' experiences of cross-cultural needs assessment meetings: the case of late-in-life immigrants
- Authors:
- FORSSELL Emilia, TORRES Sandra, OLAISON Anna
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 35(3), 2015, pp.576-601.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Research on care managers' experiences of the needs assessment process is scarce even though the literature on needs assessment practice is relatively extensive. This study examines the ways in which care managers experience the challenges that are presumably posed by increased ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity among prospective elder care recipients. It is based on a project that aims to shed light on care managers' experiences of the needs assessment process in general and cross-cultural needs assessment meetings in particular. The data are constituted of focus group interviews with care managers in Sweden (N=60). This article focuses on care managers' experiences of needs assessment with older people who have immigrated late-in-life, who come from cultures considered different from the Swedish one and who have not mastered the Swedish language. This was the group of older people that the care managers mostly thought of when asked to describe their experiences of cross-cultural needs assessment meetings. The interviewed care managers discussed the challenges that these meetings present, which were related to communication due to language barriers, different demands and expectations, insecurity regarding what is customary in such meetings, as well as perceived passivity among late-in-life immigrants. The article discusses the contributions of the findings to research on care management practices in general, as well as to needs assessment practice in particular. (Edited publisher abstract)
Care management in practice: on the use of talk and text in gerontological social work
- Authors:
- CEDERSUND Elisabet, OLAISON Anna
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 19(3), July 2010, pp.339-347.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article focuses on the assessment processes older people undergo to gain access to home care, an assessment which often falls within the scope of gerontological social work. The process involves meetings between care managers, acting as social workers, and older people in their homes to reach decisions about their home care. The article describes a study of these meetings between care manager and citizens in one type of welfare organisation – the municipal elder care system in Sweden. The article highlights how older people’s claims are dealt with in the processing of home care applications. Twenty encounters between social workers and older people were studied using discourse analysis. The findings showed that discursive practices are part of the routine when the applications are processed, and that the application handling follows an agenda-bound pattern that is visible in the encounters. The authors suggest that within these standardised procedures, verbal discourse is embedded in routines that also include the use of texts, but, however, within this institutional order there is also an important element of negotiation between the parties. In conclusion, the authors claim that the encounters include a negotiated order that does not exist on its own, but is achieved through the on-going interaction.