Research has explored how social workers in team constellations perform assessments of the needs of clients in case conferences. However, the process in which gatekeeping is applied in the categorization of clients as inappropriate receivers of support in collegial discussions has received less attention. This article presents findings from a case study of a complex case where a 64-year-old person with dementia was assessed by two teams of social workers handling the same case under two different forms of legislation (elder care and disability services). The data consist of recordings of two case conferences in one Swedish social work agency. The conferences were analysed using positioning theory. The findings suggest that the conferences contained different storylines where the social workers categorized the client as an inappropriate receiver of support. Furthermore, the discourses for gatekeeping differed depending on how the social workers positioned the client in the different storylines in the case conferences. The study shows that institutional and professional responsibilities are central to the assessments that the social workers perform, and that there is a risk that the client will be subject to gatekeeping when the case is handled on an ambiguous legal basis in different legislations, which may result in the client falling between two stools. The findings suggest that research needs to explore, in a more systematic manner, how social workers’ gatekeeping practices are performed in collegial team discussions.

Den som upplever behov av hjälp med aktiviteter i det dagliga livet har enligt socialtjänstlagen (SoL) möjlighet att vända sig till kommunens biståndshandläggare och få sin rätt till bistånd individuellt prövad. Då de flesta som erhåller denna typ av bistånd uppnått en hög kronologisk ålder, brukar de insatser som oftast beviljas kallas äldreomsorg. I SoL står dock inget om att hänsyn ska tas till (en vuxens persons) ålder då rätten till bistånd prövas. I det här kapitlet undersöker vi hur biståndshandläggare, trots detta, skapar och använder sig av informella ålderskategorier när de under så kallade ärendekonferenser diskuterar med sina kollegor om vilka behov enskilda individer har och hur dessa ska tillgodoses. Genom att fokusera på hur ålder görs i interaktion belyser vi hur handläggarna kategoriserar personerna som "för unga", "inte så gamla", "äldre" och "extraordinärt gamla" och hur "typiska" äldreomsorgsinsatser framställs som passande i vissa åldrar än andra.

Age categories are related to perceptions and norms concerning appropriate behaviour, appearances, expectations, and so forth. In Sweden, municipal home care and residential care are commonly referred to as “elder care”, primarily catering to individuals in their 80s or 90s. However, there is no set age limit reserving these services for an older age group.

In intra-professional case conferences, care managers convene with colleagues to discuss care needs and eligibility for elder care services. Despite their significance, these conferences have received limited scholarly attention. The aim of this study was to analyse how care managers categorise persons based on age in intra-professional case conferences when discussing care needs and appropriate support to meet these needs.

The study utilised data from 39 audio-recorded case conferences involving the discussion of 137 different cases, which were analysed using discourse analysis. Our findings showed that chronological age was frequently made relevant and applied in discussions about the appropriateness of usual elder care services.

Four themes emerged, representing how the care managers implicitly and explicitly categorised clients of different chronological ages as typical/normal or atypical/deviant in these discussions: the “too young”, the “not-so-old”, the “old”, and the “extraordinarily old”.

The findings contribute to research on ageing by demonstrating that, in an elder care context, being categorised as atypical/deviant (in terms of being younger) may be more beneficial than being seen as a normal or older elder care recipient. This underscores the importance of further research on the impact of informal age categorisations of clients on actual decisions about welfare services.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how care managers in team conferences jointly solve problems related to difficult cases involving clients with cognitive decline, focusing specifically on their professional roles and judgements. Team conferences in a Swedish social work setting mean that social workers assess and interpret previously collected information and discuss how to proceed with cases. We use conversation analysis to study two case sequences from 137 audio-recorded cases, focussing on professional judgements and accomplishing agreement. We show how care managers make use of different conversational practices, such as hypothetical talk and shared authority as a 'we' when conveying institutional routines, as well as when providing support to care managers. We also show how the care managers make use of expanding techniques that challenge their manager's advice. This paper offers new perspectives on how organisational norms are reproduced and how shared professional judgements are accomplished.

Few studies have explored the moral and ethical dimensions of how, in practice, socialworkers talk about and handle cases as part of their daily work. At the same time,identifying and examining the ethical dimensions of actual social work practice can bechallenging because ethics is often hidden within the complex particularities of daily work.This article applies and develops Sarah Banks’ conceptualisation of “ethics work” toexamine how care managers in Sweden are “doing ethics”, while seeking and providingcollegial support and guidance on how to deal with the wishes of adult (potential) serviceusers who are reluctant to accept support – or whose wishes in the matter are difficult todetermine. The study is based on an analysis of 14 audio-recorded case conferences. With the help of Banks’ conceptualisation, the analysis makes visible how the case discussions inquestion encompass a complex “doing of ethics”, by means of which the welfare ofindividuals is balanced against care managers’ legal duty to adhere, without exception, tothe principle of self-determination. The findings suggest that further research that appliesand develops Banks’ conceptualisation of ethics work by examining “actual” social workpractice in situ, while recognising the particularities of the social and societal context inwhich this work is taking place, could provide new knowledge and understanding aboutboth the specific and common challenges that social workers face in different parts of the world. It could also make the ethical dimensions of social work practice more widely recognised and valued.

Denna rapport har tagits fram på uppdrag av Resurspoolen – Frivilliga uppdrag i Linköping. Uppdraget bestod i att dokumentera volontärernas erfarenhet av vilken betydelse äldre medborgare, som organiserar sig i Resurspoolens verksamhet, kan ha för att förebygga ofrivillig ensamhet och social isolering bland äldre personer. Uppdraget hade också en framåtsyftande ansats gällande hur Resurspoolen kan komma att utvecklas utifrån volontärernas perspektiv.

Civilsamhällets betydelse inom välfärdssamhället är högaktuell i nationell politik där frivilligorganisationer lyfts fram som en central aktör för att hantera välfärdssystemets utmaningar och ansträngda situation. Medborgare som organiserar sig gemensamt antas fylla en allt större roll i gränsytan mot det offentliga stödsystemet. Samtidigt har ofrivillig ensamhet bland äldre personer lyfts fram av staten som särskilt allvarlig, varför statsbidrag har riktats till kommuner och det civila samhället för att förebygga och bryta ofrivillig ensamhet.

Rapporten har särskilt fokus på de äldre frivilliga volontärerna som engagerar sig. En viktig komponent är deras arbete, intresse och fortsatta engagemang för att skapa en kontinuitet i genomförandet av olika insatser och i den ömsesidiga relationen – vid aktiviteter mellan äldre, inom organisationen och mellan volontärorganisationen och andra aktörer. Rapporten belyser också arbetet med att skapa aktiviteter och mötesplatser för äldre personer, varav många lever i social ensamhet.

Rapporten kan således sättas in i ett större sammanhang genom att bidra med kunskap om hur en volontärorganisation – Resurspoolen – har en mångsidig funktion för det lokala samhället i att uppmärksamma och ge socialt stöd, sällskap, skapa gemenskap och social hållbarhet bland Linköpings medborgare.

This report has been written on behalf of Resurspoolen - Frivilliga uppdrag i Linköping. The aim was to document the volunteers' experience of the importance of older citizens, who organise themselves in the Resurspoolen’s activities, in preventing loneliness and social isolation among older people. The project also had a forward-looking approach regarding how the work by Resurspoolen can be further developed and improved.

The importance of civil society in the welfare society has been raised in Swedish national politics, where voluntary organisations have been highlighted as a key player in managing the challenged situation that the welfare system is facing. Citizens who organise themselves are assumed to play an increasingly important role at the interface with the public support system. At the same time, preventing loneliness among older people has been highlighted as a prioritised area by the state where municipalities and civil society have been pointed out as key actors to prevent loneliness. 

The report focuses on the older volunteers who get involved, get organised with the effort to give “an extra flavour to older people’s life”. An important component is their work, interest, and continued commitment to create activities targeting older people, many of whom live in social isolation. and to create collaboration, between older people within the organisation, and between the volunteer organisation and other actors in the local society. 

The report can also be placed in a broader context as it contributes with knowledge about how a volunteer organisation – Resurspoolen – has a versatile function for the local community, providing social support, social inclusion and shaping social sustainability among Linköping’s citizens.

Within a context where New Public Management [NPM] has become increasingly influential in shaping everyday working practices, social workers often handle risks in their everyday work using formalised bureaucratic procedures, among other strategies. As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, rapid changes occurred in Swedish elder care that social workers were required to address in their everyday work. Intra-professional case conferences amongst social workers provide one opportunity to discuss individual viewpoints and obtain suggestions from colleagues on how to proceed with a case. These discussions have so far received little scholarly attention. In this study we used a data set consisting of 39 audio-recorded case conferences to analyse social workers intra-professional discussions about risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case conferences, social workers discussed the risks that were accentuated by the pandemic, such as the risk of spreading COVID-19 to clients, the risk of unmet care needs amongst clients, risks related to accountability, and the risks pertaining to blurred boundaries between different organisations. The collegial discussions in case conferences included opportunities for social workers to use their collective professional experience and competency to establish creative solutions on the go and to discuss various ways of handling and balancing different risks while continuing to carry out their work in the changing and unknown situation. Our findings highlight the importance of collegial support in social work in dealing with accentuated risks during the pandemic.

Ärendekonferenser utgör en central del av det sociala arbetets praktik och fungerar som ett informellt forum för beslutsfattande där biståndshandläggare diskuterar ärenden tillsammans med kollegor. Syftet med dessa möten är bland annat att skapa samsyn i bedömningar av ärenden. Hur klienters rätt till stöd skapas och förhandlas i ärendekonferenser kan ha avgörande betydelse för vilket stöd klienter faktiskt får från socialtjänsten. Genomen fallanalys av ett ärende som rör äldreomsorg visar vi i det här kapitlet hur biståndshandläggare i en ärendekonferens diskuterar klientens rättigheter. Analysen visar hur dessa rättigheter tillämpas och utmanas i diskussioner i relation till insatsen särskilt boende genom tolkningar av aktuell lagstiftning och lokala riktlinjer.