Private financing of elder care in Sweden. Arguments for and against

The idea that there is a need to increase the share of private financing of the costs of elder care is expressed by several actors attempting to influence the direction of social policy Sweden these days. This idea fundamentally challenges established ways of financing and organising delivery of elder care services in Sweden. Underlying proposals for increasing private financing is the claim that the future scope of public elder care provision must contract, both vertically and horizontally. Underlying this claim is the assumption that both the quantity and quality of services demanded will increase, while the supply of public funds cannot. Vertical contraction aims to draw new funds from users willing to pay more to get higher quality services. Horizontal contraction aims to reduce the scope of public sector’s responsibility in service provision. This paper outlines recent developments in private provision of elder care services and examines arguments and actors for increasing private financing. Although the proposals have been put forward by influential actors, opposition to increasing private financing has been expressed, and support for solidaristic funding of elder care remains strong. Accordingly, we also consider these dissenting arguments and actors. Our purpose is to set out and evaluate the arguments, evidence and interests behind the proposals, and the likely outcomes of their implementation.Elder care; Private financing; Social policy; Sweden;

Omsorgsvardag under skiftande organisatoriska villkor — en jämf ørande studie av den nordiska hemtjänsten

Såväl nordiska som internationella forskare tar ofta f ør givet att de nordiska länderna är sinsemellan mycket lika när det gäller hur omsorgen om äldre är utformad. Samtidigt fi nns det mycket få komparativa studier som har intresserat sig f ør välfärdsstaten som arbetsgivare på äldreomsorgsområdet. På basis av en omfattande litteratur øversikt och en kvalitativ studie av hemtjänsten i tre nordiska huvudstäder diskuteras i denna artikel hemtjänstens organisationsf ørändringar och hur personalens omsorgsvardag präglas av de nya styrprinciperna-men också hur personalen aktivt och i hemlighet kringgår sina organisatoriska villkor.

Sweden Tops Canada in Care for the Aged

Because of their resources and the way their work is organized, Swedish care workers can provide better care than their Canadian counterparts. They are better placed to improve living conditions for their residents and themselves.York's Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services and funding for faculty, graduate students, and community organizations seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. It is supported by SSHRC and CIHR grants, and by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c

Marketization in Long-Term Care: A Cross-Country Comparison of Large For-Profit Nursing Home Chains.

This article presents cross-country comparisons of trends in for-profit nursing home chains in Canada, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Using public and private industry reports, the study describes ownership, corporate strategies, costs, and quality of the 5 largest for-profit chains in each country. The findings show that large for-profit nursing home chains are increasingly owned by private equity investors, have had many ownership changes over time, and have complex organizational structures. Large for-profit nursing home chains increasingly dominate the market and their strategies include the separation of property from operations, diversification, the expansion to many locations, and the use of tax havens. Generally, the chains have large revenues with high profit margins with some documented quality problems. The lack of adequate public information about the ownership, costs, and quality of services provided by nursing home chains is problematic in all the countries. The marketization of nursing home care poses new challenges to governments in collecting and reporting information to control costs as well as to ensure quality and public accountability

It Is a Scandal: What Are the Results of Media Scandals on Nursing Home Policy?

The media helps bring the larger picture into personal concerns. It can then help to take these concerns to the public, which could create change to policy. Media focus on nursing care scandals helped people to question the current belief that the for-profit sectors will provide better, more effective, care services in nursing homes.Knowledge Mobilization at York York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services for faculty, graduate students, community and government seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. This summary has been supported by the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation at York and project funding from SSHRC and CIHR. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c