Public care among older non-Nordic immigrants in Sweden in comparison with Nordic born controls

The aim of this study was to describe the formal care provided by the municipality and the staff’s description of care-related needs among non-Nordic older immigrants compared to older Nordic-born persons in Sweden. A further aim was to describe the occurrence of informal care provided. Cross-sectional data were collected concerning 111 non-Nordic immigrants from the longitudinal study «Good Ageing in Skåne» (GAS). Comparisons were made between them and a group consisting of Nordic born older people (n=111) with the same age and gender distribution. The findings showed that the non-Nordic immigrants to a higher extent cohabited with children or partners, had family members employed as caregivers, received help with Instrumental Activities in Daily Living (IADL) and Personal Activities in Daily Living (PADL) from their family, received more rehabilitation at home and more daytime home health care and were reported to have special care needs than the comparison group. Furthermore, the health care personnel had less knowledge about the non-Nordic immigrants, which in turn could mean that they do not receive the care they need.