Strengthening the support for carers in Sweden
An investigation named “Strengthen the support for carers” has been released today in Sweden. The investigation has been made on behalf of the Swedish Government. The aims are to increase and further develop support for informal carers, both adults and children. The investigator Gunilla Malmborg recommends:
- That the municipalities will be obliged to offer a special contact for informal carers who have special needs. This includes carers who care for a person/s with an illness, disability or who are older.
- That the Social Care Act will be further developed and clearly state that informal carers shall be offered information and advice, beyond other support.
- That the obligation in the health care act to offer children as next of kin to parents/guardian information, advice and support also includes siblings to a person/s with illness, disability, substance abuse or who has died and siblings who witness and/or experience violence.
- That the Social Care Act includes a paragraph that information, advice and support includes children as next of kin.
- That existing support lines, headed up by the different NGOs will be given further financial support.
- A national information portal for informal carers will created.
Nka has supported the investigation with access to their existing networks and, in particular, has supported the investigation of awareness of support for children as next of kin in the municipalities, health care and universities and provided recent research and development in the area.
The investigator Malmborg suggests that the Government gives Nka a mission to disseminate knowledge regarding children as next of kin and young carers to staff working with pupils and student health and other staff in schools.
Finally, Malmborg suggests that all legislative proposals should enter into force on 1 January 2026.
More information (in Swedish) here
(Written by Lennart Magnusson, Swedish Family Care Competence Centre, Nka).
