{"id":2508,"date":"2026-03-30T13:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T11:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.in4care.be\/nieuws\/five-insights-from-stockholm-that-make-us-look-at-elder-care-differently\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:19:03","slug":"five-insights-from-stockholm-that-make-us-look-at-elder-care-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.in4care.be\/en\/nieuws\/five-insights-from-stockholm-that-make-us-look-at-elder-care-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"Five insights from Stockholm that make us look at elder care differently"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During a study trip to Stockholm, Flemish care directors and managers went to see how Sweden organizes elder care Stockholm. What stands out when you take a closer look at a different care system? And what insights do we take back to Flanders? <\/p>\n\n

The initiative for this study tour came from the working group TOI (Home Care Support Initiatives). In4Care organized the study tour together with Zorg Educatie Centrum vzw<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Study trips like this are not a quest for who does it better. They are a way to see other choices. <\/p>\n\n

How do they organize elder care Stockholm? What principles guide their system? And what does that mean for how we continue to shape care in Flanders? <\/p>\n\n

Progress in care rarely arises alone. It grows when people in the field look together, ask questions and share insights. <\/p>\n\n

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1. Care as part of everyday life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was Stiftelsen Stora Sk\u00f6ndal<\/a><\/strong>, a campus where housing, healthcare, education and research come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What immediately stands out there is how strongly care is embedded in everyday life. Generations live together. Meeting, living and support are intertwined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization of elder care in Sweden is structured as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national government sets the framework.Regions organize health care.Municipalities take charge of elderly care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This local responsibility makes a difference. Decisions are made close to the citizen and care becomes visible in the living environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone over 65 can apply for care. Assessment is based on needs and leads to an individual care plan. From home care and day activities to residential care and meeting places, the services are broad and connect to people’s daily lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at this from a Flemish perspective, what is particularly striking is the coherence. We too are increasingly convinced that care should be broader than care alone. But often we still work in separate systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we see a different logic: clear choices, clear responsibilities and organization close to the citizen.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

2. Organizing care around people<\/h2>\n\n

On the second day, a fundamental question emerged:<\/p>\n\n

Do we organize care around the system, or around the caregiver?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In the morning, we visited the ARC – Aging Research Center<\/a><\/strong> of the Karolinska Institutet<\/a>. There, research is being done on elder care, cognitive decline and how people navigate through the care system. <\/p>\n\n

What is striking here is how much data is available and the strong commitment to evidence-based research<\/strong>. This combination of extensive data sources and academic research makes it possible to continually evaluate and adjust health care policy and practice. <\/p>\n\n

In the afternoon, we saw how that vision translates into practice at Stiftelsen Silviahemmet<\/a><\/strong>, an international reference center for dementia care.<\/p>\n\n

A few principles stand out.<\/p>\n\n