Elderly and ageing

AKF's research in the area of elderly and ageing deals with:

• The conditions of life of the elderly
• Age-related changes in conditions of life
• Changes in conditions of life over time
• Social and health-related initiatives geared towards feeble elderly

A growing elderly population

In coming years, the elderly will represent a significantly larger portion of the population. This means that the need for state pension and early retirement payments as well as the need for nursing and personal care and services from the health sector will increase. There are a number of challenges related to the fact that the elderly make up an increasing share of the population compared to people in employment. AKF’s research in ageing and the elderly has two approaches: one that examines the course of ageing – especially focusing on withdrawal from the labour market – and conditions of life at different ages, and another that looks at the initiatives geared towards feeble elderly.

Course of ageing and conditions of life

AKF is participating in a collaboration to build up a longitudinal database for elderly research that can shed light on the conditions of life of the elderly (e.g. health, social activities, social networks, economy and housing) and changes over time to these conditions of life. Based on data from this database, AKF has conducted research that sheds light on, among other things, which factors play a role when the elderly consider moving and when they actually do move. AKF has also researched what moving homes means for the well-being of the elderly.

Municipal efforts geared towards feeble elderly

Housing, assistance and care for feeble elderly represent a large area of responsibility for local authorities. At the same time, it is an area that has undergone significant changes and that will continue to change. AKF's research into public initiatives geared towards feeble elderly includes, among other things, the benefits of home care to the elderly and assessments of the quality of home care. We have also conducted studies on the freedom of choice of home care provider scheme.