WHAT DO the ELDERLY DEMAND? a Study of the Living Environment in Storuman-, Sorsele and Vilhelmina Municipality
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WHAT DO THE ELDERLY DEMAND? A study of the living environment in Storuman-, Sorsele and Vilhelmina municipality Victoria Scherbakova Magister Thesis in Human Geography, 15 hp Master’s Programme in Human Geography with specialization in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) 60 hp Spring term 2021 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Aim and research questions ........................................................................................... 5 1.2. Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Study Area ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.3.1. Housing for elderly people in Sorsele Municipality ............................................... 8 1.3.2 Housing for elderly people in Storuman Municipality ............................................. 9 1.3.3. Housing for elderly people in Vilhelmina Municipality ......................................... 9 1.3.4. Elderly plan in Västerbotten 2013-2020 ................................................................. 9 2. Background ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1. Types of elderly care .................................................................................................... 11 2.2. The organization in elderly care ................................................................................... 13 3. Theory and previous studies ............................................................................................... 13 3.1. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Previous studies ........................................................................................................... 14 4. Method ................................................................................................................................ 16 4.1. Interviews .................................................................................................................... 16 4.2. Thematic analysis ........................................................................................................ 16 4.3. Selection ...................................................................................................................... 16 4.4. Processing of empirical data ........................................................................................ 17 4.5. Ethical considerations .................................................................................................. 18 4.6. Method discussion ....................................................................................................... 18 5. Results ................................................................................................................................ 19 5.1. Thematic analysis of interviews with the elderly ......................................................... 19 5.1.1. Well-being and security in the living environment ............................................... 19 5.1.2. The lack of natural meeting places ........................................................................ 21 5.1.3. Relationship between health, place and future change of residence ..................... 22 5.2. Thematic analysis of interviews with the municipalities ............................................. 23 5.2.1. Varying housing supply ........................................................................................ 24 5.2.2. Popular accommodations in demand by the elderly .............................................. 25 5.2.3. Older housing supply as a challenge ..................................................................... 26 6. Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 27 6.1. Proposals for further research ...................................................................................... 29 6.2. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 30 7. References ........................................................................................................................... 31 Appendix 1. Consent form .................................................................................................. 37 Appendix 2. Interview template for the elderly .................................................................. 38 Appendix 3. Interview template for the municipalities ....................................................... 39 2 ABSTRACT In sparsely populated municipalities, there is a large increase of elderly people in relation to people of working age. This will entail a great need for housing for the elderly, and at the same time resources for the care of the elderly. The aim for this study is to examine how older people within Storuman-, Sorsele and Vilhelmina municipality perceive their current housing and other forms of housing for the future, and also to analyze how the housing demand is met now or in the plans for future development within the municipalities. Interviews have been conducted with both elderly but also with people who work with housing issues within the municipalities. There are incentives that the demand of shared housing will increase. The elderly feel a lack of meeting places and they prefer shared forms of housing over regular apartments. The municipalities have different challenges and different housing supply and therefore they have different approaches and plans to cope with the future housing demand for elderly. Key words: Elderly, Living environment, Meeting places, Rural areas, Retirement home, Home care, Apartments, Västerbotten county, Storuman municipality, Sorsele municipality, Vilhelmina municipality 3 1. Introduction The Swedish population is expected to increase with one million people from the years 2017-2028 and the age group that is expected to increase the most is elderly people that are 80 years and older, with 50% (Statistics Sweden, 2018A). Although, in recent decades, the reality has consistently exceeded the population forecasts (Paulsson, 2008). In Sweden, the proportion of older people relative to the population in working age is one of the highest in the world (SOU 2015:101). Since the so-called dependency ratio, i.e., how many people are of working age in relation to those who are to be supported, will increase throughout the country, it will be a problem for many of the country's municipalities. The Swedish government has an equalization system that will compensate for this, but on the other hand if there is a rapid increase of elderly people it must be possible to support them by, for example, building homes for the elderly (SVT, 2019). On the other hand, newly built housing usually entails a higher cost not only for the municipalities, but also for the tenants. This causes a financial burden for sparsely populated municipalities (ibid). Historically, the housing supply has been a problem in the urban areas in Sweden (Lundmark, 2020). The Swedish government created a reform with the goal to build 1 million residences (The 1 million program) between 1965-1974 to keep up with the urbanization process, although the supply of housing is still a problem. The consequence of this is that the rural areas have been forgotten in this matter (ibid). Furthermore, there is a concentration of elderly people in the more peripheral parts of the country, which is thus a result of urbanization (SOU 2015:101). The aging population affects different parts of the country in different ways. Since most municipal services collect funds through income taxation, the functioning of the labor market is crucial for the municipal economy (ibid). The national economy, the availability of staff in the home care service, etc. will not increase with the aging population (Paulsson, 2008). The municipal home care service must concentrate its efforts on the elderly who have the greatest needs, which means that a large part of the elderly population must increasingly manage on their own or arrange help, support and services on their own through children, relatives, friends, other seniors, voluntary organizations and companies in the service sector. For the vast majority of elderly people, disabilities and illnesses as well as insecurity, loneliness and lack of meaningful activity must be addressed and managed in the ordinary living and social environment. Society largely consists of older environments with poor accessibility, and a large part of the elderly people live in these environments. As the construction sector is a slow sector, there must be long-term and short-term considerations (ibid). 4 More and more elderly people are staying in the ordinary housing market, and in parallel with the increasing age, the demands on housing can come to change in order for the elderly to continue to live alone independently and feel safe in their home (Abramsson, et al., 2018). A varied range of housing is a basis for elderly people to find a home to age well in. In smaller