Policy for the elderly
The objective of elderly policy is for elderly people to lead active lives and have influence on society and their own everyday lives; for them to be able to grow old in security and retain their independence; and for them to be treated with respect and have access to good health and social care services.
A supplementary objective has been proposed in the Budget Bill for 2008: "The objective of Government measures is to promote the development of good quality in health care and social care for older women and men by service providers."
Scope of policy
The policy area includes measures intended to give older women and men the opportunity to lead independent lives with good quality of life. Many of these measures are undertaken in the context of a general policy directed at more groups than elderly people alone, so they are often funded and reported in policy areas other than elderly policy. In this context, the measures reported in elderly policy are mainly those that the municipalities are responsible for under elderly and disability policy in accordance with the Social Services Act and municipal health and medical care in accordance with the Health and Medical Services Act.
Direction of policy
The main direction of the Government´s elderly policy initiatives is that elderly people and their family members must feel confident that they are offered dignified social care and high quality health care. Particular focus is on the frailest individuals, those who can have difficulty making their voices heard, such as people suffering from dementia, people whose native language is not Swedish and people suffering from a combination of illnesses.
The Government has taken a series of measures that in coming years will strengthen quality development in health and social care for the elderly. These measures include large central government incentive grants to municipalities and county councils, support to construction of special service homes, the development of quality indicators to allow quality comparisons, user surveys, technology development grants and increased investment in research on the elderly. However, additional measures are needed in order to deal with problems concerning quality. The Government has therefore appointed inquiries that are to present proposals on such matters as improvements in housing provision for the elderly, the development of free choice of care provider and a guarantee of dignified elderly care. These inquiries will present their reports no later than spring 2008.
