Summary
This is a description of the upcoming Human Rights Lunch Online seminar with the topic "Human rights of older persons in long-term care", a collaboration between the two Lund University profile areas Human Rights and Proactive Ageing, together with The Swedish Institute for Human Rights. The blog article describes the context and a short summary of the report that will be presented in the semainar, as well as practical details and the agenda for the seminar.
Human rights of older persons in long-term care
Watch the recording of Brittis Edman´s presentation about “Human rights of older persons in long-term care”:
The Human Rights Lunch Online on the 25th of October was a special collaboration between the two Lund University profile areas Human Rights and Proactive Ageing, together with The Swedish Institute for Human Rights.
Brittis Edman, project leader, presented the latest report of The Swedish Institute for Human Rights ”Home is somewhere else – a study on the human rights of older persons in long-term care”.
About the report:
Older persons living in residential care homes have shared their experiences with the Swedish Institute for Human Rights. They describe the move into long-term care in terms of a major change and as a loss of the life they led before. For many of them, it has taken time to adjust to their new situation.
In the report ‘Hemma är någon annanstans’ (Home is somewhere else), older persons living in residential care homes share their experiences and perceptions of how a selection of human rights are protected and respected in their everyday lives. Based on their observations, the Swedish Institute for Human Rights have analysed how these rights are realised in both law and practice. The human rights the report focuses on are the right to dignity, the right to participation and social inclusion, the right to privacy and family life, and the right to equality and non-discrimination. This report, which is the Institute for Human Rights’ first in-depth thematic study, reveals a disparate situation. The staff the Institute met within the residential care system were committed and knowledgeable, and many older persons in residential care homes were satisfied with the care and service they receive. Despite this, however, the Institute have been able to identify clear inadequacies from a human rights perspective:
- Ageism normalises shortcomings in the care of older persons.
- The human rights perspective within the care of older persons is weak.
- Knowledge of human rights and what they mean in practice is low.
- Opportunities for older persons’ participation, self-determination and empowerment are limited.
Based on the report´s conclusions, the Swedish Institute for Human Rights has drawn up a series of recommendations to the government and municipalities which would strengthen the safe-guarding of older persons’ human rights in care settings.
The report is based on information gathered through desk research, a legal analysis and field work within which the Swedish Institute for Human Rights interviewed around 50 people: older persons, managers and care staff in eight specialised care homes for older persons in Sweden. This included two municipalities in the north, two in central parts of the country and two in the south.
About the The Swedish Institute for Human Rights
The purpose of the Swedish Institute for Human Rights is to promote and protect human rights in Sweden. Included in this task is also the promotion, protection, and monitoring of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Tasks and responsibilities
The Swedish Institute for Human Rights is a Swedish national agency which was formally established in January 2022 in accordance with the Swedish Act on the Institute for Human Rights (2021:642). The purpose of the Institute is, according to the legislative act, to promote the safeguarding of human rights in Sweden, based on
- the Swedish Instrument of Government, the Freedom of the Press Act, and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression,
- the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR),
- the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and
- other obligations in the field of human rights binding on Sweden under public international law.
The Institute’s tasks and responsibilities are to:
- monitor, investigate, and report on how human rights are respected and implemented in Sweden,
- present proposals to the Government on the measures needed to ensure human rights;
- liaise with international organisations and otherwise engage in international cooperation; and
- promote education, research, development of expertise, dissemination of information and consciousness raising in the field of human rights.
One of the responsibilities of the Institute is, as required of the States acceding to the Convention, to fulfil the role of an independent national mechanism as set out in Article 33 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention.
The Institute may propose to the Government of Sweden that Sweden’s obligations under international law within the field of human rights be expanded.
The Institute will not review complaints from individuals concerning violations of human rights.
About the Profile Area Proactive Ageing
By studying different stages of ageing and focusing on people in midlife, researchers at Lund University are developing proactive approaches for health care, social services and community planning. This will contribute to improved health and quality of life for future generations of older people.
Dementia and arthritis are examples of diseases that become more common as we get older, and to some extent depend on our lifestyle in younger years. Loneliness and problematic alcohol consumption are some of the factors that affect the risk of illness in old age. Moreover, attitudes to ageing, our standard of living and the environment have effects on activity and participation in later life.
Research targeting younger people
Preventive measures to promote healthy ageing from midlife – or even earlier – are therefore needed. Here, transdisciplinary research targeting younger people, such as today’s 50- and 60-year-olds, has a crucial role to play.
Researchers in this profile area:
- study diseases associated with brain ageing
- examine the relationship between the environment and older people’s activity, participation, mobility and health
- consider the needs, wishes and abilities of older people in the development of new technologies for future generations
- develop interdisciplinary and cross-boundary strategies and methodologies for proactive ageing research
- place particular focus on cognitive and musculoskeletal health as prerequisites for activity and participation
- include ethical, social, cultural, and societal perspectives
- develop methods for identifying people at risk of disease or who are vulnerable in other ways, using economic, social, and biological markers.
This profile area brings together world-leading researchers in medicine, health sciences, social and behavioural sciences, economics, law, science and technology.
