Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

After the 1995 Swedish psychiatric reform, people with SMI age in the community instead of institutions. However, there is a huge lack of knowledge about their living situation. The aim of the study is to investigate living conditions, social networks, health and care of older people with SMI (SMI-O) in comparison to other older people. For this analysis, we use descriptive statistical analysis to compare groups of older persons from two samples: 1) inventories of people with SMI, conducted every fifth year in one Swedish municipality from 1996 to 2011 (SMI-O) and 2) population-based study of older people, conducted in the same municipality with similar questions (OCTO-2). The mean ages in the groups were similar (SMI-E: 76; OCTO-2: 78) but the distribution of men and women differed (35/65%; 48/52%) as did the proportion of persons living alone (83%; 48%). The samples had similar frequencies in social contacts (51%; 52%) but SMI-E reported significantly more problems in performing personal and instrumental daily activities. As SMI-E is a vulnerable group compared to older people in general, understanding their support needs is required.