Nationwide data on home care and care home residence: presentation of the Swedish Social Service Register, its content and coverage

Abstract

Aims: All Swedish municipalities are legally obliged to provide publicly funded elder care to individuals in need. The Swedish Social Service Register collects data on such care. It is the only nationwide source of information on care home residency and use of home care but has rarely been used for research. This study aims to present the content and coverage of the Social Service Register and to provide guidance for researchers planning to use these data. Methods: For each month between 2013 and 2020, we examined which of Sweden’s 290 municipalities reported data to the Social Service Register. We calculated proportions of the population (restricted to ages 80–89 years to enable comparison) that were reported to the Social Service Register in each municipality and presented the types and amount of care recorded in the register. Results: The proportion of municipalities reporting to the Social Service Register increased from 82% to 98% during the study period but several municipalities reported fragmentarily and inconsistently, particularly during earlier years. Among municipalities reporting to the Social Service Register, 9% of the population aged 80–89 years resided in care homes and 19% received home care, but the registered amount and types of care varied substantially between municipalities and over time. Conclusions: The Swedish Social Service Register provides valuable data for research on aging and elder care utilisation, but data should be selected and vetted carefully, especially for earlier years. The amount and types of care may not always be comparable between geographical regions and different time periods. In recent years, however, the coverage of the Social Service Register is good.