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“To be seen” - older adults and their relatives’ care experiences given by a geriatric mobile team (GerMoT)
- Authors:
- ERICSSON Irene, EKDAHL Anne W., HELLSTROM Ingrid
- Journal article citation:
- BMC Geriatrics, 21(636), 2021, Online only
- Publisher:
- BioMed Central Ltd
Background: The proportion of older people in the population has increased globally and has thus become a challenge in health and social care. There is good evidence that care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is superior to the usual care found in acute hospital settings; however, the evidence is scarcer in community-dwelling older people. This study is a secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling older people in which the intervention group (IG) received CGA-based care by a geriatric mobile geriatric team (GerMoT). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding, from the patients’ perspective, the experience of being a part of the IG for both the participants and their relatives. Methods: Qualitative semistructured interviews of twenty-two community dwelling participants and eleven of their relatives were conducted using content analysis for interpretation. Results: The main finding expressed by the participants and their relatives was in the form of feelings related to safety and security and being recognized. The participants found the care easily accessible, and that contacts could be taken according to needs by health care professionals who knew them. This is in accordance with person-centred care as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for older people in need of integrated care. Other positive aspects were recurrent health examinations and being given the time needed when seeking health care. Not all participants were positive as some found the information about the intervention to be unclear especially regarding whom to contact when in different situations. Conclusions: CGA-based care of community-dwelling older people shows promising results as the participants in GerMoT found the care was giving a feeling of security and safety. They found the care easily accessible and that it was provided by health care professionals who knew them as a person and knew their health care problems. They found this to be in contrast to the usual care provided, but GerMoT care did not fulfill some people’s expectations. (Edited publisher abstract)
Support/services among family caregivers of persons with dementia - perceived importance and services received
- Authors:
- ALWIN Jenny, OBERG Birgitta, KREVERS Barbro
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(3), March 2010, pp.240-248.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study examines the perceptions of family caregivers for older people with dementia. Focusing on the important types of support and services in relation to experienced negative impact (NI) due to the caregiver situation, and investigating if caregivers receive the support and services perceived as important, this study, based on the Swedish part of the EUROFAMCARE project, included the views of 110 caregivers of older people with dementia. Data was collected primarily through telephone interviews, and the caregivers were divided into two groups - a higher NI group and a lower NI group, based on the NI scale from the COPE index. Obtaining information and having someone to talk to were perceived as very important types of support by the most caregivers in both groups. The data indicated only one significant difference - a higher proportion of caregivers in the higher NI group reported being able to participate in activities outside of caring as very important. There was also an indication that a high proportion of caregivers in the lower NI group perceived information about the disease as very important. Support and services perceived as important by the caregivers were received both to a high and a low degree. Findings suggest that there is negligible difference between groups of caregivers experiencing higher and lower NI regarding their perception of what are important types of support and services. The caregivers rated different types of support and services within the areas of information, relief and counselling as very important.
Family carers' experiences using support services in Europe: empirical evidence from the EUROFAMCARE study
- Authors:
- LAMURA Giovanni, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 48(6), December 2008, pp.752-771.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This article explores the experiences of family carers of older people in using support services in six European countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the UK. Following a common protocol, data were collected from national samples of approximately 1,000 family carers per country and clustered into comparable subgroups to facilitate cross-national analysis. Carers' use of available support services is limited across Europe but is considerably higher in Germany, Sweden, and the UK than in Poland, Greece, and Italy. Service use is more prevalent among wives and carers with stronger support networks and less frequent among working daughters with high levels of burden, suggesting the need for a reconsideration of eligibility criteria and better targeting of service responses. Access to and use of services is characterized by a divide between carers in northwestern Europe, who experience few difficulties other than the older person's refusal to accept the support offered, and carers in southeastern Europe, where service affordability and poor transportation present remarkable barriers. Concerns regarding the timeliness and quality of support are common to all countries. European Union-wide efforts to improve carer support need to focus on improving the care system's ability to provide timely, high-quality care delivered by staff who treat the older person with dignity and respect, and to enhance cooperation between health professionals (in all countries), informal networks (especially in southeastern Europe), social services (particularly in Sweden and the UK), and voluntary organizations (in Germany and the UK).
Policy and practices relating to the active engagement of older people in the community: a comparison of Sweden and Australia
- Authors:
- LEONARD Rosemary, JOHANSSON Stina
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 17(1), January 2008, pp.37-45.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article compares policy and practices for engaging older people in community life in Sweden and Australia. Barriers and support for active engagement through paid work, social activism, volunteering and aged services are compared. Both countries face issues of ageing populations, services for rural areas and people with small needs. Issues for Sweden were the absence of age discrimination legislation, availability of funds and lack of recognition of the growing levels of volunteering. Issues for Australia concerned the new managerialist approach to services, with associated complexities of access and limited social activism.
The impact of information and communication technology on family carers of older people and professionals in Sweden
- Authors:
- MAGNUSSON Lennart, HANSON Elizabeth, NOLAN Mike
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 25(5), September 2005, pp.693-713.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This article explores the perceived benefits of, and barriers to, information technology as a means of supporting family carers of older people. Following a brief overview of the care-giving literature, with particular reference to the Swedish context, interview and questionnaire data collected from 34 families who took part in the Swedish ACTION project are used to explore the role of user-friendly information and communication technology to inform and enable family carers of older people to exercise choice, to care more effectively and to work in partnership with professionals. Interview data from two groups of professionals that utilised ACTION are also examined to throw light on its potential benefits for both carers and professionals. Consideration is given to the barriers to using information technology, and to identifying those carers most likely to benefit. Areas for further development are the need for practitioners' education and a wider range of programmes to address carers' diverse needs. Clearly, lessons learned from the Swedish project have wider relevance, given that new forms of support are being developed in most technically advanced countries.
From plan to market: a comparison of health and old age care policies in the UK and Sweden
- Authors:
- FOTAKI Marianna, BOYD Alan
- Journal article citation:
- Public Money and Management, 25(4), August 2005, pp.237-243.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This article reviews changes in the organization, delivery and financing of health care and old age services in the UK and Sweden over the past 25 years. User autonomy has become a more important policy objective than equity of access or equality of opportunity, with a greater reliance on market mechanisms for delivering services. The public and politicians seem to be prepared to accept that competition, choice and decentralization may result in a widening of regional and geographical inequalities, and the erosion of the universal character of the welfare state. These developments reflect broader normative shifts in both societies, and are likely to continue and become more widespread in the future, as they will be strongly influenced by demographic and social factors, fiscal constraints and the policies of supernational bodies such as the European Union.
Group living for people with dementia
- Authors:
- ANNERSTEDT Lena, et al
- Publisher:
- University of Stirling. Dementia Services Development Centre
- Publication year:
- 1993
- Pagination:
- 12p.
- Place of publication:
- Stirling
This translation of a Swedish design report is based on lengthy experience of designing small units for people with dementia. The report advocates the adjustment of group living units for people with dementia which depends on an awareness of their needs and the involvement in planning of those with medical competence.
Inequality in the welfare state? Local variation in care of the elderly - the case of Sweden
- Authors:
- TRYDEGARD Gun-Britt, THORSLUND Mats
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 10(3), July 2001, pp.174-184.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article uses Sweden as an example to describe and analyse municipal variation in services and care for elderly people. Responsibility for these services lies with the municipalities. National statistical data on municipalities are analysed to map out the variations in old-age care; to study compensating factors in the care system: and to explore the connection with municipal structural and political conditions. The overall finding of the bivariate analyses was that most relations with structure and policy were weak or non-existent. The final multivariate model explained only 15% of the variance. The large differences between municipalities makes it more appropriate to talk about a multitude of 'welfare municipalities' rather than one single welfare state. The article concludes that this municipal disparity constitutes a greater threat to the principle of equality in care of the elderly than gender and socio-economic differences.
Home care for the elderly in Sweden, Germany and Italy: a case of multi‐level governance strategy‐making
- Authors:
- LONGO Francesco, NOTARNICOLA Elisabetta
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 52(7), 2018, pp.1303-1316.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Home care is a policy field characterized by strong interdependencies and multi‐level governance. In such a setting, decision‐ and strategy‐making is complex, with interrelated governance mechanisms between the private and public actors involved, and the risk of lack of a clear and sharp definition of public contents. In this article the authors are interested in understanding “if and how” multi‐level governance influences planning in home care and, more generally, social care fields. Through the analysis of home care services for the elderly in three prominent European countries, the article highlights critical dimensions that should be taken into consideration in such contexts: users' selection, services features, coordination and funding mechanisms, provision forms. These dimensions turn out to be representative of key processes of strategic development within multi‐level settings. (Edited publisher abstract)
Diversification of old-age care services for older people: trade-offs between coverage, diversification and targeting in European countries
- Authors:
- SUNDSTRÖM Gerdt, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Care Services Management, 5(1), January 2011, pp.35-42.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The two major public services for older people are institutional care and home care. In addition to these, a number of other low-level support services have also developed including transportation, meals-on-wheels, alarm systems, and day care. Using secondary analysis of a number of earlier surveys, this paper provides information on the way in which all of these types of support are allocated and who uses them in six different countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, England, Spain, and Israel. It also provides a closer scrutiny of Swedish service profiles. When all types of support are considered, service coverage in these countries is approximately 50% to 100% higher than for the two major types alone. The results suggest that countries with higher service levels target all their services more strictly by needs than countries with lower service levels. In countries with lower user rates, users may get what is available with little differentiation between their needs. The article suggests that a range of services, major and minor, may suit the varying needs of older people, and that minor services may also be used as an inexpensive substitute for full support.