Ethnically profiled nursing home care in Sweden - from culture to lifestyle

The paper investigates presentations of ethnically profiled nursing homes in Sweden, and in particular what categories these nursing homes target and what problems they are suggested to solve. The findings relate to the construction of older immigrants and to shifting ideas on responsibilities of the Swedish welfare state. Data consisted of 68 articles from newspapers and journals between the period of 1995 and 2015 that were analysed using qualitative methods. Guided by a social constructionist approach focusing on claims-making, two comprehensive ‘problem frames’ were identified: the language and culture frame and the choice of lifestyle frame. The main finding of the paper was that, since about 2007, descriptions of ethnically profiled nursing homes have come to be included in a broader category of profiled nursing homes such as ‘all inclusive’ and ‘hotel-concept’, within a system that focuses on choice based on special needs, lifestyle and interest. The paper concludes that, although this way of framing ethnically profiled nursing homes works against the construction of older immigrants as a problematic category, there is a risk that the emphasis on choice of lifestyle conceals or justifies inequalities based on social class.