The purpose of this paper is to examine in which ways animal-assisted work can be used within elderly care and with people that are included in support and service for persons with certain functional impairments (in Sweden called LSS). Through qualitative, semi-structured interviews we wanted to see what kind of experiences the professionals had and if there are any advantages and disadvantages with this type of work. Our selection consisted of six people from various institutions that practice social work in the south of Sweden, equally divided between LSS and elderly care, who together with five dogs and one horse implement animal-assisted social work in their institutions. Six different themes were identified in the empirical data we gathered throughout our interviews. With the help from our themes, previous research on the subject and our theories the biophilia hypothesis, SOC and symbolic interactionism we managed to analyse our empirical data. To sum up, our result indicates that the animal-assisted work gives very positive results for the clients. We have been given examples on how the animal-assisted social work helps breaking the client’s isolation, how it can contribute to an increased well-being physically as well as mentally. We have also seen how the animals can be used to work as a motivational factor and how they can teach the clients accountability. Furthermore, we discuss our results and future research we are interested in seeing to ease the animal-assisted social work progress in the Swedish social work.

”MAN BLIR SÅ GLAD NÄR DET KNACKAR PÅ DÖRREN…”- EN KVALITATIV STUDIE OM UPPLEVELSER AV SOCIAL SAMVARO INOM SÄRSKILT BOENDE FÖR ÄLDRELINDA STENBERGStenberg, L. ”Man blir så glad när det knackar på dörren…”. En kvalitativ studie angående äldres upplevelser av social samvaro inom särskilt boende. Examensarbete i Socialt arbete, 30 högskolepoäng. Malmö universitet: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, Institutionen för Socialt arbete, 2018.Abstrakt: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka äldres upplevelser och beskrivningar av social samvaro när boendeformen är ett särskilt boende. Kvalitativa intervjuer har gjorts med fem personer som bor på ett särskilt boende i södra Skåne. Resultatet visar att den sociala samvaron brister utifrån de äldres beskrivningar inom valt särskilt boende för studien. Respondenterna beskriver sin sociala tillvaro som begränsad, vilket dels beror på verksamhetens utbud av aktiviteter med sociala inslag, men också på grund av en försämrad hälsa och känslor av ensamhet. Däremot framkommer att flera av respondenterna har ett frekvent umgänge med nära familjemedlemmar, men utifrån beskrivningar nämns inga vänner eller andra relationer som är av betydelse. Vikten av sociala relationer och samhörighet med andra beskrivs mestadels utifrån minnen av personernas liv före flytten till äldreboendet. Förslag till förändringar eller framtida önskemål beskrivs vagt i förhållande till deras nuvarande situation, vilket ses som problematiskt eftersom det tros skapa en diskrepans mellan individ och verksamhet angående behovet av social samvaro. Det finns ett betydande missnöje hos respondenterna vad gäller möjligheter för social samvaro utifrån deras boendesituation. Bortsett från aktiviteterna så beskrivs det finnas svårigheter att föra samtal med varandra. Den sociala interaktionen mellan personerna uppfattas som onaturlig och framtvingad. Dessutom har de flesta svårt för att framföra sina klagomål, vilket uttrycks bero på ambivalens, dolda känslor och beroendet till rollen som omsorgstagare och äldre.Nyckelord: äldre, social, särskilt boende, sociala relationer, socialt nätverk, hälsa, äldreomsorg. / ”A KNOCK ON THE DOOR BRIGHTENS UP YOUR DAY…”- A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION IN SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR THE ELDERLYLINDA STENBERGStenberg, L. "A knock on the door brightens up your day...". A qualitative study of older people's experiences of social life in special housing. Degree Project in Social Work, 30 credits. Malmö university: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Social Work, 2018.Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of elderly people and descriptions of social interaction when the housing form is special accommodation. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with five people living in an elderly residence in southern Skåne.The results show that the elderly experience limitations in their social life within the chosen special accommodation for the study. The respondents describe their social lives as limited, due in part to the selected choice of activities with social elements, but also because of the deterioration of their health and feelings of loneliness. On the other hand, it appears that several respondents have a frequent relationship with close family members, but based on descriptions, no friends or other relationships are mentioned that matters. The importance of social relationships and interconnection with others is mostly described based on memories of people's lives before moving to the elderly accommodation. Proposals for changes or future requests are described vaguely in relation to their current situation, which is considered problematic because it is thought to create a discrepancy between individuals and organizations regarding the need for social exchanges.There is a significant dissatisfaction with most respondents regarding opportunities for social interaction based on their living situation. Apart from the activities described there are difficulties in making conversations with each other. The daily social communication between those interviewed is perceived as unnatural and enforced. However, most of these people find it hard to convey their complaints, which are expressed by ambivalence, hidden feelings and dependence on the role of caretakers and elderly people.Keywords: elderly, social, nursing homes, social relations, social networks, health, elderly care.

The purpose of this study was to find out from an ethical perspective how researchers describe a good leadership. The study tried to investigate more specifically the leadership styles and attributes of first-line managers which according to an ethical perspective characterized a good leadership in elderly care. The background used was the reforms that occurred in elderly care, the implementation of national values in elderly care and the laws governing leadership in elderly care. The method used was a text analysis of two books which focussed on leadership in elderly care and in social work. An inductive approach was used meaning that the study took the facts from the two books as a starting point and applied the theory to it. The theory used in the study was normative ethics. An analysis was made and it could be seen that there were different views on what constituted a good leadership and different views on the leadership styles and attributes of first-line managers that were considered to characterize a good leadership. Sometimes would a good leadership be described in terms of values such as  achievement, human value and high performance. Sometimes would a good leadership be described in terms of values like dignity, knowledge, self-responsibility and responsibility for others.   The study also found out that there were different leadership styles of first-line managers that created the conditions for a good leadership. These were leadership styles that included empowerment, good attitude, good communication and empathy. Moreover, the attributes that were considered to make first-line managers into good leaders were clarity, accessibility, humor, courage, authority, communicative skills, language skills and especially empathy and an equal attitude. Some researchers even pointed out that there was no particular type of leadership that could be considered the best and that there was no leadership style either that could be considered as a template for all leaders and organizations in elderly care to follow. It was thus found that without ethics as a theory, all of these findings would have been very confusing. Thanks to normative ethics as a tool, it could be understood why there were so many different views on what was considered to be a good leadership. Ethics casted light upon the fact that there were different values, norms, virtues, and motives behind an action that were given priority in different contexts explaining why there were so many different types of leadership styles and attributes that were considered appropriate in different situations. The study found out that a special emphasis was laid on the fact that a leader should know himself or herself and his or her view on mankind as well as his or her ethical values. Then he or she would know what his or her strengths and weaknesses were. It was also observed in the study that the virtues of a good leadership were never-ending. This was why training of first-line managers was considered central and it was found that training was to be organized for them on a more regular basis.

Bakgrund: För att ge god och säker vård behövs ett säkert och strukturerat sätt att kommunicera mellan olika vårdgivare. Kommunikationsverktyget SBAR skall enligt Sveriges kommuner och Regioner, implementeras inom kommunal verksamhet.Sjuksköterskor och omvårdnadspersonal har behov att kunna rapportera utifrån en patientsäker struktur där patientinformation sker mellan olika vårdgivare och inom den egna verksamheten.Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att införa och använda kommunikationsverktyget SBAR inom kommunal äldreomsorg. Metod: Studien hade en beskrivande design med kvalitativ ansats. Datainsamlingen skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta sjuksköterskor inom kommunal äldreomsorg. Analys gjordes med en manifest innehållsanalys.Huvudresultat: I resultatet framkom två kategorier och fyra subkategorier.De två kategorierna var hinder och förutsättningar vid införandet av SBAR och hinder och förutsättningar för användandet av SBAR. Sjuksköterskorna upplevde att SBARutbildningen liknade en kortfattad information, inte som en utbildning i ett nytt kommunikationsverktyg. De saknade uppföljning och att ny personal fick utbildning i SBAR. Samtliga sjuksköterskor uppgav att SBAR skulle ha fungerat bättre om fler inom organisationen, dvs omvårdnadspersonal, använde det, samt att det var fördelaktigt och användbart då kommunikationsverktyget har en tydlig struktur på vad som ska rapporteras. Sjuksköterskorna beskrev att det var stor variation i hur och antalet omvårdnadspersonal som använde och rapporterade utifrån SBAR. Detsamma gällde för sjuksköterskorna.Slutsats: Studien visar att det finns vissa steg i implementeringsprocessen som bör utvecklas och förstärkas och att det är viktigt och värdefullt att involvera vårdpersonalen i samtliga steg. Genom att involvera personalen kan införandet och användandet underlättas. / Background: In order to provide high-quality, safe care, a safe and structured way of communicating between different care providers is needed. According to Sweden's municipalities and regions, the communication tool SBAR must be implemented in municipal operations. Nurses and nursing staff need to be able to make their reports based on a patient-safe structure, both when there is a transfer of patient information between different care providers, and within their own operations.Aim: The aim of the study was to describe nurses' experiences of introducing and using the communication tool SBAR in municipal elderly care.Method: The study had a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. The data collection took place through semi-structured interviews with eight nurses in municipal elderly care. Analysis was conducted using a manifest content analysis.Main results: The results showed two categories and four subcategories.The two categories were obstacles and conditions for the introduction of SBAR and obstacles and conditions for the use of SBAR. The nurses felt that the SBAR training was similar to a brief information, not equivalent to receiving training in using a new communication tool. They lacked follow-up, and new staff lacked training in SBAR. Allnurses stated that SBAR would have worked better if more people within the organization, i.e. nursing staff, used it, and that it was beneficial and useful as the communication tool provides a clear structure for what is to be reported. The nurses described that there was great variation in the number of nursing staff who used SBAR for their reports, and in the way it was used. The same was true for the nurses.Conclusion: The current shows that there are certain steps in the implementation process that should be developed and strengthened, and that it is important and valuable to involve the care staff in all steps. By involving the staff, the introduction and usage can be improved.

Bakgrund: The High Intensity Functional Exercise (HIFE) program har visats ha goda effekter på fysisk funktionsförmåga och ADL-förmåga för äldre personer boende på äldreboende och hjälpberoende i ADL. Det finns dock begränsat med kunskap om fysioterapeuters upplevelser och erfarenheter av att använda sig av HIFE på äldreboende. Denna studie kan bidra till förståelse för hur fysioterapeuter kan utföra högkvalitativ träning för denna population.   Syfte: Att undersöka fysioterapeuters upplevelser och erfarenheter av att använda sig av HIFE för äldre personer boende på äldreboende.    Metod: För att besvara syftet valdes en kvalitativ design och fem fysioterapeuter som har arbetat enligt HIFE på äldreboende i Sverige intervjuades genom enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys.   Resultat: Utifrån insamlade data identifierades fyra kategorier med sammanlagt 17 underkategorier. Kategorierna var: Framgångsrik implementering kräver mångas engagemang, Viktigt att göra ett aktivt val av deltagare, Utmana deltagarna nära sina gränser och Effekter av träningen på många plan.   Konklusion: Samtliga fysioterapeuter gav uttryck för att det finns ett stort behov av HIFE på äldreboenden. HIFE ansågs lämpligt för många boende och möjliggör att utmana deltagarna till en hög intensitet så att de kan få en god effekt av träningen. För att lyckas krävs mångas engagemang innan, under och efter träningsperioden. / Background: The High Intensity Functional Exercise (HIFE) program has been shown to have good effect on physical function and ADL in elderly people living in nursing homes and dependent on assistance with activities in daily living (ADL). However, there is limited knowledge regarding physiotherapists' experiences of using HIFE in nursing homes. This study can help to understand how physiotherapists can perform high-quality training with this population.    Aim: To investigate physiotherapists' experiences of HIFE with elderly people living in nursing homes.    Methods: To achieve the objective of this study a qualitative design was chosen and five physiotherapists that have worked according to HIFE in nursing homes in Sweden were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.    Results: Based on the collated data, four categories were identified with a total of 17 subcategories: Successful implementation requires the commitment of many, Important to actively choose participants, Push the participants close to their limits and Effects of the training seen on many levels.   Conclusion: All physiotherapists expressed a great need for HIFE in nursing homes. HIFE was considered suitable for many of the residents and made it possible to challenge the participants to a high intensity and thus saw a greater effect. In order to succeed, commitment is required from a number of people before, during and after the training period.

This thesis analyzes two bills that has led to two of the most extensive health care reforms in Sweden over the last thirty years by using a descriptive idea analysis. The purpose of the thesis is to explore traces of New Public Management in the bills, through the characteristics decentralization, marketization and customer orientation. Results show that traces of New Public Management can be found in both bills, although in various ways. The bill produced in the 1990’s show evidence of decentralization, while the bill produced in the 2010’s show evidence of marketization and customer orientation.

The elderly care sector is facing high demands in the context of demographic change. In regard to the high potential of efficiency increase, the area has been restructured particularly strongly based on principles of the New Public Management (NPM) since the 1970s. This thesis aims to investigate the influences of NPM on elderly care and the effects on care staff and people in need of care by means of a qualitative approach based on a qualitative content analysis. Through a holistic perspective, the role of social work as a profession and possible changes within the welfare state structures of Germany and Sweden is explored. The findings convey a rather negative experience of the impact of NPM and is characterized in both countries by a high degree of privatization, standardization and economization in care. Due to higher workloads and fewer resources, the pressure on staff in care is high. In addition, services for those in need of care are reduced and the quality of care suffers from the staff’s high workload. The objective of care is affected by the implementation of NPM and entails a change in the profession, which needs to be viewed critically based on the results.

Ageism theory explains how the creation of “old” as different from non-old includesexpectations from people identified as of age as having other needs and desires than non-old.Expectations from the surrounding society project the needs of “old” as being more basic,simpler, less refined and culturally demanding as those of non-old, which potentially causediscrimination towards people of age - especially if identified as the stereotypical “seniorcitizen”, which is associated with fragility, loneliness, resignation, passivity and worries.“Senior citizens” are expected to have numerous basic needs such as home service includingcooking and cleaning, personal care related to hygiene and moveability, social stimulationrelated to isolation and loneliness, and protection against loss of security. At the same time,they are not expected to have needs related to culture, lifestyle, sports, activity, addictions,learning, crime, or sexuality. This study examines if, and how, such expectations influence theguidelines for needs assessment in elderly care in Swedish municipalities. Such guidelines arelikely to exist in most municipal elderly care administrations; out of the examined 11 towns, 9had formally established such guidelines. The method used was text analysis, and results showthat needs that may be regarded as ageist expectations make up more than 93% of the contents,while less than 7% can be classified as non-ageist or neutral. The essay highlights theshortcomings of the elderly care in providing adequate interventions as possibly connected toageist prejudice in the municipal guidelines document through three individual cases.

Bakgrund:Socialstyrelsens statistik visar att äldre kommer att öka under de kommande åren. Detta leder till att fler sjuksköterskor behövs i den kommunala verksamheten. Sjuksköterskeutbildningen ska förbereda den nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskan för att kunna arbeta inom slutenvård samt kommunalt. Upplevelsen att inte vara erfaren nog att arbeta med äldre, som har komplexa sjukdomar är en faktor som avgör nyutexaminerande sjuksköterskors val av arbetsplats.Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva den nyutexaminerande sjuksköterskan upplevelser av att arbeta inom äldrevård. Metod: Studien gjordes som en litteraturöversikt. Huvudresultaten grundades på 12 stycken kvalitativa artiklar samt mixad metod. Resultat:I resultatet framkom flertal olika faktorer som påverkade nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskors upplevelser att arbeta inom äldrevård. Tre huvudkategorier utmärkte sig specifikt: Övergången från student till sjuksköterska upplevs varierande, Arbetsmiljön påverkar relationen till patieten och Behov av stöd inför yrkesrollen med respektive underkategorier. Underkategorier som presenteras under resultatet: Det självständiga arbetet är utmanande, Tidigare erfarenhet har betydelse, Tidens betydelse för vårdrelationen, Osäkerhet inför det svåra samtalet, Ledarrollen är utmanande, Introduktion är primärt för utveckling, Behov av stöd från den erfarna sjuksköterskan. Slutsats: Ökningen av den åldrande befolkningen visar att det behövs fler sjuksköterskor inom äldrevård.Erfarenhet av både livssituationer samt arbetet inom äldrevård är en central aspekt vid övergången till äldrevård. Sjuksköterskeutbildningen bör utformas till mer verksamhetsförlagd utbildning inom äldrevård för att främja övergången från student till sjuksköterska. / Background: The National Board of Health and Welfare statistics show that the elderly will increase in the coming years. This leads to more need of nurses in the municipal care. The nursing education must prepare the newly graduated nurse to be able to work in health care and municipal care after exam. The experience of not being experienced enough to work with the elderly who have complex illnesses is a factor that was the new graduate’s choice to start their professional role. Aim: The aim is to describe the newly graduated nurses experiences of working in municipal care. Method: The study was made as a litterature review. Results were based on 12 qualitative articles and mixed method. Results: The results revealed a number of different factors that influenced newly graduated nurses’ experiences of working in municipal care. Three main categories stood out specifically: The transition from student to nurse is experienced as varying, The work environment affects the relationship with the patient and The need for support for the professional role. Subcategories: Independent work is challenging, Previous experience is important, The importance of time for the care relationship, Uncertainty before the difficult conversation, The leadership roll is challenging, Introduction is primarily for development, Need for support from the experienced nurse. Conclusion: The increase in the aging population shows that more nurses are needed in geriatric care. Experience of both life situations and work in geriatric care is a central aspect of the transition to geriatric care. Nursing education should be designed for more work-based education in geriatric care to promote the transition from student to nurse.

Assistive technology is an important field that has gained a lot of attention and has developed rapidly in recent years. This thesis identified what kind of assistive technologies are currently used within elderly care and further examined the professionals’ attitude towards the assistive technology. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted with a total of four professionals and the empirical findings were analyzed with the use of Technology Acceptance Model. The empirical findings showed that professionals have generally positive attitudes towards the assistive technology, however, the study showed that different types or versions of the same assistive technology affected the perception of using it. Additionally, the study examined the barriers and opportunities of using the technologies. There were concerns identified and potential improvements that could be made; however, the overall benefits outweigh the disadvantages.