AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

To which extent elderly people at nursing homes have an influence on their daily living is currently debated. Studies have shown that they have limited influence due to restricting routines associated with nursing homes. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine how elderly people experience the ability to influence their daily living at nursing homes and how limited influence is revealed in the daily care. Five elderly people, from four different nursing homes, underwent a structured interview. The outcome of the interviews was analyzed in relation to established theories related to geriatric care.

The purpose of the study was to investigate how inventories of suspected polluted areas as a part of the planned control of existing companies cab be designed in order to achieve as great effect as possible. The study was conducted in cooperation with Piteå municipality. An analysis of regional inventory projects, local municipal strategies and a pilot study in Piteå was conducted. The experience from both the regional projects and the pilot study was that in order to achieve an effective control a number of factors were inportant: an efficient selection of companies, a good dialogue between the controlling agency and the companies, sufficient resources, education of municipal inspectors and guidance for decisionmaking. Another inportant result was that the municipal planning can prevent an efficient inventory if the control of city development projects is allowed to take time from the planned control.

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about if and how the National Value System?s goal of a life with dignity for the elderly pervades the work in home care organisations. The study was based on a qualitative research method and was conducted through interviews with professional care givers in home care organisations, there were five individual interviews and one pair interview. The background for this study was the National Value System for the eldercare that was introduced in 2011. The theory of New Public Management and the concept of Rationality of Caring were used to analyse the result.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to describe the development of the most important libraries in Skövde, starting from 1830. We conclude our examination about 1940, when the municipal library has been active for almost ten years, and the libraries started by the temperance and working-class movements have been deposited at the municipal library. In order to explain this process we describe the development of the Swedish public library and its predecessors, such as reading societies and the popular national movements? libraries, as a background and comparison to the early libraries in Skövde.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the young caregivers thoughts of the elderly caretaker. A qualitative method was chosen when interviewing young caregivers in order to get an insight of how they perceive and speak of the elders. The main questions of the study are: How do the caregivers believe that the elders perceive their day-to-day life and situation? Is it possible to distinguish if the young caregiver?s thoughts about the elders affect their work with the elderly caretaker? Is it possible to notice any common factors that the young caregivers perceive as important in their work with the elderly caretaker? The criteria for inclusion in this study are caregivers aged 18 to 25, who are working with elderly at special accommodation. The theories chosen for this study are the salutogenetic perspective, the activity theory and the theory of gerotranscendence.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how activities in elderly care matters to well-being among elderly people, from both user perspective and staff perspective. The study is made out of a qualitative method, this to create a deep-going understanding of how the people participating in the investigation are experiencing the impact of activities on well-being from their unique situation. Personal interviews have been used as method. Six persons were participating, three elderly persons and three persons working as staff. All interviews were made in a ?short-time? ward in the county of Västernorrland.The result of the investigation shows that the elderly people that were interviewed not directly related the participation in activities to feelings of well-being.

This paper examines how teachers and librarians are helping children and young people withdyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. The examination has taken place in a small municipalityin Skaraborg County. Seven teachers in the municipal schools and the chief librarian inthe municipal library have been interviewed as well as an advising county librarian.In the municipal schools the pupils have access to literature in easy language and computerswith programs training reading, writing and spelling. In some schools there are textbooks ontape too. In the municipal library and in the county library disabled readers can loan literatureon tape and literature in easy language.The conclusion of the examination is that children and young people with dyslexia/readingand writing difficulties need all sorts of aids in reading and writing.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

In recent years the elderly care in Sweden has gone through several structural changes with the main purpose of delivering a more efficient service. The aim of this study is to compare the management control system in a privately and a publicly managed elderly home. A qualitative study was conducted which included interviews, observations of meetings and reviews of relevant documents. To be able to identify possible differences the framework of Hood consisting of seven dimensions was used. An analysis of the selected dimensions showed that the differences in management control were minimal and Brunsson's theory of politicization and 'company-ization' were used to explain why..

The aim of this study was to examine care managers and how they understand and use their discretion. We used a qualitative method and the data was gathered by semi-structured interviews. We interviewed eight care managers in four different municipalities in southern Sweden. The theoretical approach we used was Michael Lipsky?s theory about street-level bureaucracy.

Background:The concept of transition means a change in a person's life where he or she is forced to adapt. There are different phases in life that results in different adaptations. In this essay, transition is described as the physical and mental journey between the home and an elder care facility. The Aim was to describe elderly people's experiences of transition when moving from their previous home into an elder care facility. The Method used was a literature review.

Background: Municipalities are organizations facing a turbulent environment characterized by social, economical and political changes. It is the responsibility of the topleaders of the municipality (the municipal manager and the chairman of the local government board) to manage the situation and to make sure that the organization continuously develops. Purpose: To explain, from a leadership perspective, how the municipal topleaders'duties have developed during the past 25 years. Results: The municipal topleaders have nowadays got more issues to handle. Cooperation, networks and projects have increased, like international issues.

This essay is a qualitative study on quasimarkets in the field of home-help service. The main purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the function of costumers choice from elderly persons point of view. The quasimarket in home-help service of Solna stad has served as an example. The questions raised in the study concerned the elderly costumers opinion of the information about the different producers, what had influence on their choice, their attitude towards the freedom of choice, and their ability to act as consumers on a quasimarket.The method used was qualitative semi structured interviews. A majority of the elderly consumers appreciated the possibility to choose producer of home-help service.

Growing old should be the golden years of your life, being able to do whatever you want to do. Instead these years are often combined with both physical and psychological illness. Neither the body or mind are what they once were. It has been shown through empirical studies that many elderly people don?t have any social support at all.