With increasing frequency, society is faced with questions of how to meet the needs for welfare, care and nursing for the oldest citizens, who depend in their everyday lives on social services. This group includes those aged 80 and above. They are no longer active on the labour market, and spend increasing amounts of time in their homes. Their residential environment is therefore important, and requires adaptation to individual needs.
Average life expectancy is increasing, and it is anticipated that the numbers of people aged over 80 will double in the next decades in Scandinavia. Care for the elderly is therefore being reappraised and developed. The policy in the Scandinavian countries is to extend the time people live in their own homes, find flexible support services for them at home, and to increase accessibility in housing and residential areas.
During the project on housing for the elderly in 2013 the Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues has collected information about how those over 80 live in Scandinavia. The survey gives basic and comparable information about the numbers of people in this group, types of housing and care services in the Scandinavian countries.
