Sweden

Demographic information (National Board of Health and Welfare)

• Inhabitants:  9,415,570
• No. of citizens 65+: 1,737,246
• No. of citizens 75+: 1,826,421
• No. of people with long-term care needs (users of home care and residential care homes): 312,704

Characteristics of health, social and long-term care delivery

Health, medical care and care of older people is one of the issues in society that the Swedish people are most concerned about. Swedish health, medical care and care of older people is based on the principles that care should be provided on equal terms and according to need. Services should be under democratic control and financed on the basis of solidarity. Services and facilities are expected to be characterised by high quality and good accessibility in which the patient comes first. The provision of long-term care for older people in one’s own home is a central policy goal in Sweden as in all other Nordic countries.

Background information on key-issues

Quality assurance and quality management in LTC

(...) In Sweden live approximately 9 million people. The publicly financed health and social care sector constitutes a major ingredient in the Swedish welfare system. The public responsibility for health and social care is explicitly regulated in legislation and other national policy documents. Every four years, Swedish citizens elect their representatives in the Parliament (Riksdag). The Parliament is the supreme political decision-making body in Sweden. It appoints a Prime Minister who is given the task of forming a Government. The Government Offices comprise the Prime Minister's office, the twelve ministries and the Office for Administrative Affairs. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is responsible for the following areas: financial security, social services, medical and health care, health promotion and the rights of children and disabled people (more ...)

The role of informal care in LTC

(...) In recent years informal care in Sweden has gone trough a transition from not being recognized to becoming a part of the long-term care system. Several programmes have been initiated by the government and managed by the National Board of Health and Welfare to improve the conditions for those who deliver informal care (more ...)

Governance and financing of LTC

(...) Health, medical care and care of older people hold a central position within the Nordic and thus also the Swedish welfare model. In an international perspective Nordic LTC for older people is characterised by comprehensive, high quality public services available to all citizens in accordance with their needs, rather than their personal finances. Highly autonomous municipalities and extensive public home help services are also considered to be specific Nordic phenomena (more ...)