Concepts of quality in elderly care

This report is part of the Ministry of Social Affair’s project on quality in elderly care, which was initiated in January 2005 with a view to strengthening quality in care for the elderly. The report concludes that there are five concepts of quality in care for the elderly:
•Care must be individualised
•Equal treatment
•Normalisation according to former life style and according to other elderly
•Continuous development
•Autonomy
These five concepts are used in care for the elderly by care providers, assessors and the elderly themselves, simultaneously and in both the home care and nursing care sectors – although they by their different orientation contradict each other and create some fundamental paradoxes in the provision of care for the elderly.
The report is based on a theoretical discussion of concepts and 32 individual and focus group with home care assessors, care providers and elderly people