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Need and support: determinants of intra-familial financial transfers in Sweden
- Author:
- LENNARTSSON Carin
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(1), January 2011, pp.66-74.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Inter-generational financial transfers, or the passing down of wealth, are recognised by scholars as a crucial part of the inter-generational link in modern societies. This paper examined downward inter-generational intra-family financial transfers in Sweden made in the form of money transactions or gifts. The paper asked whether recipients of intra-family financial transfers are children in need of such support, and whether early family environment has any consequences for later financial transfers. The study, using data from a nationally representative survey, suggested that childhood disadvantages had long-term consequences in connection with intra-family financial transfers, where disadvantages and inequalities in childhood were likely to remain into adulthood. Children who experienced adverse childhood conditions were less often recipients of later intra-family financial support. Intra-family transfers were also related to the needs of the younger generation. Single parents and students from higher social class families were more often beneficiaries of financial support.
Incremental patterns in the amount of informal and formal care among non-demented and demented elderly persons results from a 3-year follow-up population-based study
- Authors:
- WIMO A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(1), January 2011, pp.56-64.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Against the assumption that care for older people includes complex interactions between formal services and informal care, this study aimed describe longitudinal patterns in formal and informal care given to older people with and without dementia. The older people studied (who were participating in a longitudinal population-based study on ageing and dementia called the Kungsholmen-Nordanstig Project) were aged 75 years and over, and living at home in a rural area in northern Sweden. They were clinically examined and interviewed at the baseline of the project and at follow-up approximately 3 years later. The researchers found that overall quantified informal care at follow-up for those still living at home was about 3 times larger than formal care. They also found that the amount of informal care was lower for people with dementia still living at home at follow-up than at baseline, probably due to effects such as institutionalisation and mortality, and that having mild cognitive decline and no home support at baseline had a strong association with receiving care or being dead at follow-up.
Informal caregiving for elders in Sweden: an analysis of current policy developments
- Authors:
- JOHANSSON Lennarth, LONG Helen, PARKER Marti G.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 23(4), October 2011, pp.335-353.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Care of older people is a public responsibility in Sweden, with public policies and programmes providing health care, social services, pensions, and other forms of social insurance. However, families are still the major providers of care for older people. In the context of a 2009 amendment in the Swedish Social Services Act recognising the importance of informal caregivers, and policies promoting support for family caregivers, this paper examines the process leading to the amendment and its implications for the division of responsibility between the state and family. It looks at the Swedish context and background, services for older people and their families, the development of social services legislation from the 1980s, "rediscovery" of the family, and the role of voluntary and private sectors. It also discusses the new legislation and support to caregivers, noting that family caregivers have received more recognition but that reductions in public services have had negative repercussions for caregivers, and that it is too early to say how the changes will affect informal caregivers.
Accessibility in public space as perceived by people with Alzheimer’s disease
- Authors:
- BRORSSON Anna, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 10(4), November 2011, pp.587-602.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Most people with dementia remain living at home as long as possible after being diagnosed, and hence their lives also include activities in public spaces. However it is thought likely that people living with Alzheimer’s disease experience reduced accessibility as a result of their illness. The aim of this study was to examine real experiences of accessibility in public space for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Seven people with early stage Alzheimer’s type dementia living in the Stockholm area were interviewed in depth (age 64-80 years, 5 female) using a grounded theory approach. The core category, accessibility as a constantly changing experience, was characterised by changes in the relationship between informants and public space. Changes occurred in activities and use of place and were related to familiarity and comfort, individual motives and interests, and planning and protecting. Other changes occurred in places and problematic situations related to everyday technologies, busy, noisy, crowded places, and changing landmarks. These changes reduced feelings of accessibility and increased difficulties in carrying out activities in public space.
Blended learning networks supported by information and communication technology: an intervention for knowledge transformation within family care of older people
- Author:
- PIERCY Kathleen Walsh
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 51(4), August 2011, pp.561-570.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This article describes a Swedish model for knowledge transformation and community communication, called Blended Learning Networks (BLNs), which involves all key stakeholder groups within care for older people. The aim of BLNs is to enable older people, their families, and care providers to exchange knowledge and experience, learn from each other, and support each other in local development work. BLNs were established in 31 municipalities, headed up by a local facilitator. They are supported by a national themed network consisting of virtual meetings between local facilitators and national facilitators at the Swedish National Family Care Competence Centre. An evaluation was conducted to explore the utility of the BLNs comprising: focus group interviews with members of 9 BLNs; self-evaluation group sessions using the focus group questions in 16 BLNs; and virtual focus groups carried out with 26 of the 31 local facilitators and with the national facilitators. The participants reported an increased understanding of caregiver issues and of each group's roles. Of particular value were the stories shared by caregivers and the potential for change locally due to the involvement of decision makers. The practice demanded considerable skills of the local facilitators. An initial education for new local facilitators was deemed necessary.
Livindhome: living independently at home: reforms in home care in 9 European countries
- Authors:
- ROSTGAARD Tina, et al
- Publisher:
- Danish National Centre for Social Research
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 252p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Copenhagen
This report presents findings from the project Living Independently at Home: Reforms in organisation and governance of European home care for older people and people with disabilities (LIVINDHOME). The study provides an overview of recent and current reforms in the organisation and governance of home care systems in nine European countries, and analyses the intended and unintended results of these reforms, in particular, how the reforms have affected the organisation, supply and quality of care. The focus of the study is home care for older people and for people with disabilities. In countries that have more family-oriented welfare traditions (Austria, Germany, Italy, Ireland), comprehensive approaches to long-term care have started to develop only relatively recently. Despite increases in funding for long-term care, home care provision in Italy and Ireland remains highly fragmented, with major local variations in access to services. The second group of countries (Denmark, England, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) have had more or less comprehensive home care services in place for many years. These have been delivered by local authorities under a legislative framework set by central government. Reforms have here involved the introduction of market- and consumer-related mechanisms into the supply and delivery of home care.
Architectural space as a moulding factor of care practices and resident privacy in assisted living
- Author:
- NORD Catharina
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(6), August 2011, pp.934-952.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
A case study project examined the relationship between the architectural design of an assisted living facility in Sweden and the care provided by the staff to the residents. This article explains the context of assisted living in Sweden, where most assisted living residents are of advanced age and suffer from multiple conditions and/or dementia, and the general elements of design of assisted living facilities. It also describes the assisted living facility studied, which catered for 13 residents. Information for the qualitative study was collected through observations and personal interviews with staff and residents, over 15 months of fieldwork with 1-2 visits a week. The article reports the results of the analysis, covering routines and privacy, privacy in residents' rooms, public dimensions of residents' rooms, control of access to residents' rooms, and privacy in the public spaces. The study found that during the course of a day residents' privacy was qualified and structured by caring activities that took place in various spaces, that individualised care practices improved privacy for the resident, that residents had more control of access to their private rooms than control of their personal space in public areas, and that although constrained by architectural features, staff used a number of spatial strategies to promote the residents' privacy, for example at mealtimes or when care was provided in residents' private rooms. The author concludes that residential care can contribute to a resident's privacy where staff cultivate a resident's right to personal space through individualised care, negotiations of acceptability, and spatial strategies.
Physically violent behaviour in dementia care: characteristics of residents and management of violent situations
- Author:
- ISAKSSON Ulf
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 15(5), July 2011, pp.573-579.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Violent behaviour is common among residents with dementia and complicates nursing care. This study investigated the types of caring situations, resident characteristics related to violence, and professional carers' management of violence. Three hundred and nine residents of 40 group homes participated in interviews. A third of residents were presenting with violence during the preceding week. Three factors were independently associated: male gender; antipsychotic treatment; and decline in orientation. Violent residents were more likely to have impaired speech, difficulties understanding verbal communication and prescribed analgesics and antipsychotics. Violence happened mainly in intimate helping situations and was managed by symptom-oriented approaches, such as distraction, medication and isolation. The authors concluded that, in order to enhance the quality of care for residents with dementia, there is a need for interventions that understand and successfully manage the residents’ violent, situational, behaviour.
Variations in older people's social and productive ageing activities across different social welfare regimes
- Authors:
- WARBURTON Jeni, GRASSMAN Eve Jeppsson
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 20(2), April 2011, pp.180-191.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study explores voluntary association involvement by older people using a six-regime model with Esping-Andersen's three worlds of welfare as a starting point. Current literature is then used to argue for the inclusion of three additional regime types. The model, with its six illustrative countries, is then used to compare type and level of voluntary association membership and volunteering by older people. The first set of findings is a descriptive account of the context of ageing and social welfare in the six countries and the relationship between this context and volunteering by older people. The second set of findings uses a broad comparative dataset, the World Values Survey (2005–2006), to explore differences in voluntary association involvement more specifically. The analyses suggest that differences across regime types are explainable in terms of the social welfare context. These findings suggest a possible line of approach to understanding differences across countries.
A comparative analysis of personalisation: balancing an ethic of care with user empowerment
- Author:
- RUMMERY Kirstein
- Journal article citation:
- Ethics and Social Welfare, 5(2), June 2011, pp.138-152.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Abingdon
Modern developments in care and support delivery for disabled and older people have led to the expansion of personalisation schemes, where money is paid in substitute for care and support. Although the schemes have been evaluated within their own national contexts, little work has been done so far to explore the theoretical implications of their development and extension, particularly from an ethics of care perspective. This paper fills that gap by drawing on comparative evidence from several schemes across different nations to develop an analysis which draws on feminist theory and an ethics of care approach to examine: the gendered policy outcomes and impact of such schemes; a feminist analysis of the governance implications of personalisation; the implications for the gendered division of work, particularly between paid and unpaid care work and between different groups of paid and unpaid carers; an ethics of care analysis of the impact of personalisation over the lifecourse of disabled and older people, and carers; and a discussion of the relationship between commodification, empowerment, citizenship and choice drawing on the work of care ethicists.