This study examines the imaginings of the future of elder care depicted in a short storycompetition organized by a Swedish municipality and local newspaper in 2023. The competitioninvited entries from the public. The instruction was to portray a day in a care home in 2043 fromthe perspective of staff, next of kin, or residents of residential care homes, with. A jury selectedthe winner, which was published alongside other entries in early 2024.The competition resonates with established discourses about challenges of elder care inSweden such as staffing shortages, inadequate resources, and an ageing population as well asproblematizations of the future of elder care. But instead of the alarmist language that oftenaccompanies discussions about the future of elder care, these short stories depict residentialcare in 2043 in a very idealized and idyllic way. In relation to established discourses theyrepresent the elder care that is wanted rather than expected.In this study we will use the short stories of the competition as a starting point for a discussionabout how the future of elder care is imagined and how this connects with specific ways ofproblematizing elder care as a societal responsibility. A starting point for the analysis is thatimaginings of the future of elder care is articulated, explicitly or implicitly, together with certainvisions of what the ‘good’ or the ‘necessary’ society looks like.This study contributes to the ongoing debate on the problematization of old age in society andthe future of elder care by highlighting the significance of critically examining imaginings ofthe future. By scrutinising imaginings of the future, it is possible to deconstruct visions of whatconstitutes the ‘good’ or the ‘necessary’ society.

Det börjar nu bli möjligt att se bakåt på en tid präglad av en pandemi som drabbade den äldre befolkningen särskilt hårt. Coronakommissionens delbetänkande Äldreomsorgen under pandemin (SOU 2020:80) visade med tydlighet på de strukturella bristerna. Per Gunnar Edebalk har skrivit boken Äldreomsorgen: en aktuell historia (2022a) och dess ämne ter sig alltså särskilt angeläget. Det saknas inte forskning om äldreomsorgens historia (se t.ex. Trydegård & Thorslund 2010, Trydegård 2013, Brodin 2005; Blomqvist & Winblad 2019). En hel del av den forskningen står Edebalk själv för (se t.ex. Edebalk 1991, 2016). Som Edebalk skriver så har det saknats en sammanhållen historik över den moderna äldreomsorgens historia. Det som står i fokus för Edebalks historieskrivning är den offentligt organiserade äldreomsorgen som tar sin början med 1918 års fattigvårdsförordning och avslutas med beslutet om biståndsbedömt trygghetsboende som trädde i kraft 2019. Som avslutning diskuterar Edebalk möjliga vägar framåt för äldreomsorgen.

The aim of this chapter is to critically examine dominating points of departures and perspectives within the social science literature which addresses issues of masculine identities, autonomy and social relations among dying older men. The literature and arguments that we present in this chapter relate mainly to men involved in heterosexual relationships. Throughout the chapter we will highlight identified complexities when studying death and dying of older men, neglected perspectives and potentials for future research on these issues.

Research on men and masculinity focuses on values and characteristics of masculine identity, which is often associated with autonomy, being active and in control, physically strong andresourceful. Moreover, social gerontology tends to focus on aging “successfully” and only to aminor extent acknowledge the “dark side” of aging, such as illness, impaired physical and mentalabilities, dependency and death. This is of relevance in relation to dying older men, where issuesof being dependent, frail and not being autonomous do not align with ideals of masculine identities. Meanwhile, current societal views on a “good death” focus on enabling autonomy and notdying alone. This in turn raises the issue of how to understand cases when men express autonomy to the degree of challenging norms of “good death”, i.e., wanting to die alone of expressionswills to end one’s life. Consequently, the issue of older men who are dying highlight severalcomplex and potentially conflicting narratives, on societal, organizational and individual levels. Inthis study we will analyze how the issues of dying and masculinity are treated in public discourseabout the death of older men. The point of departure is to scrutinize what types of narratives thatare prevalent and how the current narratives of “good death”, “successful aging” and the “fourthage” are dealt with in the chosen cases. Moreover, attention will be drawn to who´s perspectivesdominate in the narratives. Is it professionals, relatives, dying older men, policymakers or religious authorities who are given a voice?

Public opinion regarding the organization of welfare and elder care, as well as how the right to care is articulated, are issues that have mainly been studied as expressions of individual attitudes or conflicting ideologies. By contrast, and departing from an understanding of the importance of context and societal rhetoric, this study is designed as a case study of the rhetorical landscape of elder care in public discourse in Sweden. The study circles around a TV documentary about problems in elder care that was aired in early 2020, just before the pandemic. The analysis focuses on how the issues were framed in the documentary but also on how different actors in news media and on the TV-channels Facebook page reacted to the claims in the documentary and how different actors used the documentary for their own aims.

The study departs from a discourse analytical perspective and the analytical focus is on how the rights to elder care and the rights of users of elder care are articulated in relation to what the problems of the organization of elder are represented to be.

Public opinion regarding the organization of welfare and elder care are issues which have mainly been studied as expressions of individual attitudes or conflicting ideologies. By contrast, and departing from an understanding of the importance of context and societal rhetoric, this study explores a media event in the form of a Swedish TV documentary about problems in elder care and the reactions to it that were published in printed news media. The study departs from a discursive psychological perspective and focuses on what is taken for granted with regard to how elder care should be organized, and which conflicts are articulated in the different articles and opinion pieces that were published during the month following the broadcast.The study also shows how elder care is not a singular issue, but always interconnected with issues such as citizenship, identity, migration, and the legitimacy of the political and legal system. It was found that right to formal care for older people to a large extent was articulated as a right by virtue of citizenship.

Sverige har det gjorts få studier av vad det innebär att åldras på landsbygden. Den övervägande majoriteten av forskningen om äldre människor och deras livsvillkor produceras med empiriskt material, såväl som frågeställningar, som tar sin utgångspunkt i de förutsättningar som det urbana livet ger. Det urbana fungerar normerande och livet på landsbygden uppfattas ofta i termer av vad som saknas där i förhållande till livet i staden. Kunskapsutvecklingen om livet i glesbygd har därmed kommit att hamna i skymundan (SOU 2006:106). Denna studie är ett bidrag till forskningen om att åldras på landsbygden och i fokus är livet och livsvillkoren för äldre ensamstående män utan barn utifrån ett genusperspektiv. För studien har elva ensamstående barnlösa män på landsbygden intervjuats.