The role of documentation for client construction processes in gerontological social work

Does foreign-born background, gender, and age matter?

Abstract

Based on an exploratory study, this article asks whether foreign-born background, gender, and age have any relevance for needs assessment documentation in Swedish elderly care. Using quantitative content analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis of case files (n=202) containing investigations (n=489) into requests for welfare services, this study explores whether the identification grounds of older people matter for documentation practices. The content analysis unveiled that case file descriptions of foreign-born older people are more extensive than the descriptions of Swedish-born. The multiple logistic regression analysis suggests also that gender and background seem to be relevant for how decisions are justified in case files. Age is not as relevant as the other categories. The most substantial finding is that foreign-born older people in this material are granted home care allowance to greater extent than Swedish born. The results partially support the critical debate about how clients are constructed in social work documentation since they give some indication that background, gender and age can play a role in how older people’s applications for care are processed in case files.