| 1. |
- Andersson, Katarina, et al.
(author)
-
Governance, Accountability, and Organizational Development : Eldercare Unit Managers' and Local Politicians' Experiences of and Responses to State Supervision of Swedish Eldercare
- 2018
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Routledge. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 30:5, s. 419-439
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article explores how local politicians and care unit managers in Swedish eldercare experience and respond to state supervision. Twelve politicians and 12 managers in 15 previously inspected municipalities were interviewed about their experiences of and reactions to state supervision (SSV) in relation to their views of care quality and routines in eldercare practice. The findings indicate that local managers and political chairs perceived SSV in eldercare positively at a superficial level, but were critical of and disappointed with specific aspects of it: in terms of a) governance—chairs and managers said SSV strengthened implementation of national policies via local actors, but were critical of SSV’s narrow focus on control and flaws in eldercare practice; b) accountability—SSV was seen as limited to accountability for finances and systemic performance; and c) organizational development—SSV was seen as limited to improving routines and compliance with legislation, while local definitions of quality are broader than that. In general, local actors regarded SSV as improving administrative aspects and routines in practice but ignoring the relational content of eldercare quality.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Jegermalm, Magnus, et al.
(author)
-
Caregiving and volunteering among older people in Sweden - prevalences and profiles
- 2009
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Haworth Press. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 21:4, s. 352-373
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study examines the role of older people in Swedish society by exploring the prevalence of their informal caregiving and volunteering and by analyzing the profiles of these contributors of unpaid work. Data were collected by means of telephone interviews in a Swedish representative survey conducted in 2005. Our analysis reveals three distinct profiles of people involved in unpaid activities. One of these consists of those involved both in informal helpgiving and volunteering, a group that has been labeled “super helpers” or “doers” in earlier research. It is important for social policy planners to recognize these groups of older people and better understand the dynamics of their unpaid work in order to ascertain whether they might need support as providers and to enhance their well-being. There does not seem to be any simple contradiction between the parallel existence of a universal welfare model of the Swedish kind and an extensive civil society in which older people play important roles as active citizens.
|
|
| 4. |
- Jock, Janet, et al.
(author)
-
Effects of pension eligibility expansion on men’s cognitive function : findings from rural South Africa
- 2023
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Routledge. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) live in low- and middle-income countries, and this figure is expected to rise as these populations are rapidly aging. Since evidence demonstrates links between socioeconomic status and slower rates of cognitive decline, protecting older adults’ cognitive function in resource-limited countries that lack the infrastructure to cope with ADRD is crucial to reduce the burden it places on these populations and their health systems. While cash transfers are a promising intervention to promote healthy cognitive aging, factors such as household wealth and level of education often confound the ability to make causal inferences on the impact of cash transfers and cognitive function. This study uses a quasi-experimental design, leveraging an exogenous expansion to the Old Age Pension for men in South Africa, to approximate causal associations with cognitive function. We found evidence that there is a potential benefit of cash transfers at an earlier age for older individuals. As such, transfers such as pensions or other forms of direct basic income transfers may hold promise as potential interventions to promote healthy cognitive aging.
|
|
| 5. |
- Johansson, Lennarth, et al.
(author)
-
Informal Caregiving for Elders in Sweden : An Analysis of Current Policy Developments
- 2011
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 23:4, s. 335-53
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, care of elderly people is a public responsibility. There are comprehensive public policies and programs providing health care, social services, pensions, and other forms of social insurance. Even so, families are still the major providers of care for older people. In the 1990s, the family was “rediscovered” regarding eldercare in Sweden. New policies and legislative changes were promoted to support family caregivers. The development of services and support for caregivers at the municipal level has been stimulated through the use of national grants. As a result, family caregivers have received more recognition and are now more visible. However, the “Swedish model” of publicly financed services and universal care has difficulty addressing caregivers. Reductions in institutional care and cutbacks in public services have had negative repercussions for caregivers and may explain why research shows that family caregiving is expanding. At the same time, a growing “caregivers movement” is lobbying local and national governments to provide more easily accessible, flexible, and tailored support. In 2009, the Swedish Parliament passed a new law that states: “Municipalities are obliged to offer support to persons caring for people with chronic illnesses, elderly people, or people with functional disabilities.” The question is whether the new legislation represents a paradigm shift from a welfare system focused on the individual to a more family-oriented system. If so, what are the driving forces, motives, and consequences of this development for the different stakeholders? This will be the starting point for a policy analysis of current developments in family caregiving of elderly people in Sweden.
|
|
| 6. |
- Nilsson, Gabriella, et al.
(author)
-
Old overnight : Experiences of age-based recommendations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
- 2021
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - Philadelphia, PA : Informa UK Limited. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 33:4-5, s. 359-379
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Swedish response to the COVID-19 pandemic included age-based recommendations of voluntary quarantine specifically for those 70 years of age or older. This paper investigates the experiences of a sudden change of policy in the form of an age restriction that trumped the contemporary active aging ideal. A web-based qualitative survey was conducted in April 2020. Through manual coding of a total of 851 responses, six different ways of relating to the age-based recommendations were identified. The results show that age is not an unproblematic governing principle. Instead, in addition to protecting a vulnerable group, the age-based recommendation meant deprivation of previously assigned individual responsibility and, consequently, autonomy. It is shown how respondents handled this tension through varying degrees of compliance and resistance. Findings highlight the importance of continuously tracking the long-term consequences of age-based policy to avoid negative self-image and poorer health among older adults.
|
|
| 7. |
- Olofsson, Jenny, 1978-, et al.
(author)
-
Sociodemographic factors and adjustment of daily activities during the COVID-19 pandemic – findings from the SHARE Corona Survey
- 2023
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Routledge. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, older people across Europe have adjusted their daily activities as personal risk avoidance and as an amendment to policy recommendations and restrictions. In this study, we use multilevel logistic regressions to examine to what extent sociodemographic factors are associated with activity reduction among the older population (50+) in Europe and whether these associations are moderated by governmental policy responses to COVID-19. By combining data for~35,000 respondents from the SHARE Corona Survey on reported changes in daily activities and stringency of restrictions at the national level, we find that older age, poorer health and being female versus male were (consistently) associated with greater activity reduction across all activities both in countries with weak and in those with strong restrictions. Associations between education, employment and living situation, on the one hand, and activity reduction, on the other, were weaker and less consistent. We conclude that differences between sociodemographic groups are rather similar for countries with weak and those with strong restrictions and hence argue that group-specific policy recommendation are relevant independent of stringency recommendations.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Persson, Tove, et al.
(author)
-
Older people's "voices" - On paper : Obstacles to influence in welfare states - A Case Study of Sweden
- 2009
-
In: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 21:1, s. 94-111
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The official rhetoric of welfare states unconditionally pays tribute to older people’s right to express dissatisfaction. In practice, users of ‘older service’ in welfare states may be deprived of their ‘exit’ option and face considerable constraints when it comes to raising their ‘voices’. For example, when older people in nursing homes would like to lodge a complaint, they may well be referred to the very staff members they depend upon in their everyday life. This article analyses a national case in which these contradictory tendencies are especially explicit: formal influence channels for older people in Sweden. Using data from structured interviews with 100 representatives of Swedish municipalities, and drawing on Hirschman’s (1970) theory on exit and voice, the article analyses obstacles for older service users’ influence in Sweden and develops explanations for these obstacles in terms of social contexts.
|
|
| 10. |
- Poon, Leonard W., et al.
(author)
-
Understanding Very Old Age : Looking Back and Thinking Forward
- 2016
-
In: Journal of Aging and Social Policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821. ; 28:3, s. 208-217
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding human development among the oldest old is a sequential building process taking into account building-block data, theories, and models from childhood, adulthood, and old age toward a new territory of oldest-old survivors who have lived way beyond the average life-span. A central question is whether the oldest-old survivors have developed specific survival techniques and/or protective environments that nurture survival. Or are the oldest old statistical outliers who by happenstance continue to survive further into old age? This commentary provides a historical framework on the papers in this series that describe challenges confronted by the oldest-old survivors in order to advance our understanding of survival of the oldest old. A clear understanding of the contributors to longevity could guide public policies toward well-being and life satisfaction among our oldest-old citizens.
|
|
