"Vi är ju också insatsstyrda [...] det är ju svårt med såna begrepp som ensamhet" : Tio biståndshandläggares syn på ofrivillig ensamhet bland äldre

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to explore care managers view on loneliness among elderly and to examine what interventions they proposed. Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with care managers from nine municipalities in the region of Skåne. The empirical material that has been collected was analyzed through Håkan Jönsons (2010) perspective analysis and Roine Johanssons (2007) theory of street-level bureaucracy. Our study has shown that loneliness among older people was constructed as a complex and subjective problem. At the same time care managers constructed loneliness as a natural consequence of getting older. Furthermore, the care managers seemed to have difficulties dealing with the elderly as complex individuals, and they often ended up with predetermined interventions rather than meeting the needs of the individual. We have also been able to conclude that care managers have a discretion, which gives them the opportunity to make flexible interpretations regarding client’s situations. Although our result has shown that it can be difficult for the care managers to know how to use their discretion. Instead their interventions to meet client’s loneliness tended to follow an equal pattern of either company by nursing staff, or company in a municipal meeting point.