Moving on a roundabout at the end of life--What counts?: Waiting times for transfer to sheltered accommodation for older people in Sweden

In Sweden, increased care in ordinary housing has contributed to a reduction of rooms in sheltered accommodation. The allocation of rooms has become stricter. Only those whose care needs cannot be met in any other ways are allocated such accommodation. The aim was to explore the waiting time between the transfer decision and the accomplishment of the move from the initial form of care to sheltered accommodation as well as whether there were differences in waiting time in relation to certain demographic data.Method 445 decision documents were analysed. Mean and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for waiting time and date of the move to sheltered accommodation were calculated. Differences between mean age and waiting time were analysed using Student's T-test. Effects of age, gender and cohabitation on waiting time were estimated by means of multifactor linear regression.Results The main finding was that the difference in mean waiting time was shortest when moving from hospital, irrespective of destination. There were no significant differences in waiting time in relation to gender, age or cohabitation.Conclusion The reason for a move was often described by means of abstract standard formulations. There is a need for standardised models and assessment instruments in order to ensure older people's safety and to compare different forms of accommodation.