Local governance, professionalism and court defiance in Swedish elderly care

Swedish eldercare is based on the principle of individualized and need-based care.

The law regulating eldercare, the Social Services Act, is therefore a framework law, which gives local politicians and social professionals’ discretion to create individualized care based on the objectives of the law.

If an individual is dissatisfied with the decision of the local social welfare board, e.g. for being denied home care services, (s)he has the right to appeal to court.

Previous research, however, has pointed out that political and professional decision makers may perceive court decisions unwarranted, suggesting that they occasionally would choose not to implement them.

For Swedish eldercare, this means that elderly not always receive the care and assistance, which the court has ruled that they are entitled to.

Although the way municipalities handle the courts’ ruling is of great importance for the individual elderly, empirical knowledge about how they act when courts overturn their decisions is limited.

To what extent do municipalities defy the rulings of courts, and how do social professionals and local politicians view the competence of the courts?

The aim of this project is to shed light on how municipalities act when courts overturn their decisions, especially with regard to court defiance.

Moreover, the project aims to increase the understanding of the feasibility to combine political and professional decision making with the opportunity to appeal to court.

Empirically, the study contributes with a first systematic examination of the municipalities´ handling of court rulings regarding ​​eldercare.