– It’s okay to get old when you feel so good, says Lilly Andreassen (91). We have taken the lift up to the third floor of a nursing home in Oslo. The doors open, and the first thing we see are two grey-white heads close together on a green sofa. It’s Lilly and her new friend. Or, best friend. Before, Lilly lived alone in a council house on Furuset in Oslo. In the Brennpunkt documentary “Care behind closed doors” we saw how she did not receive sufficient help from the home service. With a hidden camera, news documented, among other things, that she did not get proper food for several days. She gradually got worse, and gradually more lonely. Now life has turned around. Lilly has been placed in a nursing home. She eats well, she gets to move, and she has met Anny (92). – I am so happy for her. That means everything, that. Grab me! Lilly and Anny both have dementia. They spend most of their time together: They have been given permanent seats next to each other in the canteen, they sit close together on the couch when they watch TV, and sometimes they dance behind their walkers. Mazurka and tango are the favourites. They talk together, trust each other, and are each other’s hands to hold. Lilly’s are cold. Anny’s are hot. – You are my heater, you, Lilly says to her friend. Two good friends. Photo: Stephan Reis / news Empathy and love In the past year, Lilly has felt something she missed for a long time: empathy and love. – You can come here and be with other people. And dance, if there is music. So this is all right, she says. Her daughter, Ira Elvebakk, feels that Lilly is taken care of after she moved to a nursing home. She is no longer underweight and she has gained a new sense of calm. – It seems that mum has lowered her shoulders. She has settled down. It took a few months before she relaxed and felt safe, but I think she does now, says Ira. When Lilly lived at home, Ira received carer’s pay to look after her mother a few hours a week. In addition, Lilly was visited by home care three times a day, and visited a senior center three times a week. This cost the district where she lived, Alna district, NOK 592,000 in 2021. It would have cost the district NOK 144,000 more to have her live in a nursing home. She got the place a year ago. – Mum feels safe now. She has paid tax all her life, so it should, in a way, just be missing, says Ira. Lilly’s life in money Home care in total: NOK 592,000 in 2021 NOK 424,000 is for home nursing and services in the home NOK 68,000 is for care pay NOK 100,000 is for activity offers Expenses related to the GP are not included Nursing home total: NOK 736,000 in 2021 Here the deductible is deducted ( sum not stated) Source: Bodel Alna, unit for home services Klem – on both sides In a nursing home a little further south in Oslo, Kari Flaten (92) sits alone in her room. She lights up when we arrive and insists on a hug. And one more hug, on the other side. – Oh, it’s so good, laughs Kari. Kari was also in the documentary about Norwegian elderly care. She lived at home and lived with a fear of falling, severe pain in her legs and a strong desire to move. A year and a half ago, she got the place she had wanted for so long. Kari has settled in well at the nursing home. Photo: Stephan Reis / news The walls in her “new” room are filled with personal photos of the old days, the children and grandchildren. On the table are three bouquets of flowers, which she has received from her family. They visit every week. – I am a completely different person now. I am safe, says Kari. The transition was not entirely easy, however. Several of the elderly at the nursing home have dementia, and Kari was unable to make proper contact with anyone. She felt like she was losing her own voice. But eventually she met a woman from another department. Her name is Sidsel, and is sometimes followed into Kari’s room. – She would like to come to me and chat a bit and such. She is so happy to chat – so am I! Kari and her family spent just over a year on applications, refusals and complaints before she got this nursing home place. And the price tag? It is just over NOK 220,000 more a year than when she lived at home. Kari’s life in money Home care in total: NOK 570,000 per year Includes home care, practical assistance and day center Expenses related to administration and GP are not included Nursing home in total: NOK 792,000 in 2022 Here the deductible is deducted (sum not stated) Source: Bodel Østensjø, mastering and care Then the district of Østensjø paid NOK 570,000 for various services per year. For a nursing home place, the district has to fork out NOK 792,000 a year. Kari has made a new friend at the nursing home. Photo: Stephan Reis / news Difficult price tag Department director Rannveig Renolen in the Østensjø district says that most elderly people want to live in their own home and get help to cope with everyday life there. – But some will eventually need a place in a nursing home, writes Renolen. In that case, it is professional assessments, not price, that should be the basis. news has presented the figures in this case to the Minister of Health and Care. Is NOK 200,000 worth a safer life in a nursing home? – I think it is difficult to put a price tag on it. It should not be the economy that decides whether or not the elderly can live in a nursing home, says Ingvild Kjerkol. According to the minister, it should be the needs of the individual that decide. – It can be good for many to receive safe and good follow-up in their own home, while others quite obviously need the security that a place in a nursing home provides. Kjerkol says it is the responsibility of the Storting politicians to finance care for the elderly in a good way. The municipal politicians are responsible for providing different offers for different needs. – Should the price matter? – No, it shouldn’t. We are trying to find good ways to finance services, and are looking at how we can plan well to build them out. Many more of us will be elderly in the years to come. The municipalities must then have a set of offers and tools to meet this in a good way, says Kjerkol. And the price tag varies. Both Lilly and Kari live in Oslo municipality. Elsewhere in the country, in Karmøy, calculations look a little different. Lonely old age Sverre Solli (98) got up extra early, now that he knew he was going to have visitors. He has put on a new grey-blue shirt. He is sitting in his chair reading the newspaper when we enter his room, the room he has lived in for about a year. – I feel good. It’s good food, and decent service. It can’t be that much better. Sverre put on a new shirt before news and Johanna came to visit. Photo: Rune Hansen / news When we met Sverre for the first time, he was not motivated to stand up at all. After his wife, Johanna, had to move to a nursing home due to dementia, Sverre started medication for depression. He was lonely, unmotivated and unsure if life was worth living. In the end, he got a place in the same nursing home as Johanna. – There is something about living at home and being alone, versus being here. It’s going well, says Sverre. But there’s still a problem: They don’t live in the same room. Johanna lives in a closed dementia ward, and they have completely different care needs. The missing did not disappear, but it has lessened. When their children are visiting, they take Johanna to Sverre’s room. It is at the far end of the nursing home. Of the two, it is she who is the easiest on the bones. And she who puts his mind at ease. – He is enjoying himself, and says this is the best alternative when he cannot live at home. It is very good to hear. It is also good to note that he is safe, says daughter Siv Eikemo. According to Karmøy municipality, it cost NOK 468,000 to have Sverre living at home in the last year. The money went to home nursing and other services in the home. In addition, he had an offer of day care, which he declined. This would have cost the municipality just over NOK 150,000 a year. The nursing home Sverre now has costs almost one million kroner annually. – That generation has paid for itself. It cannot be converted into money. The most important thing is that they get a dignified life, says Siv. Sverre’s life in money Home care in total: NOK 621,000 in 2022 NOK 468,000 is for home nursing and services in the home NOK 153,000 is for day care. He declined this. It was nevertheless a cost that was included in his offer from the municipality, and is therefore included in the calculation. Nursing home total: NOK 998,000 in 2022 Here the deductible is deducted (total not stated) Source: Kamøy municipality, health and care agency En evighet The price is not decisive for which offer the elderly receive, according to the municipalities news has spoken to. Unit manager in Alna district, Milija Simic, says that functional level, living situation and consent are factors that are emphasized when a nursing home place is to be allocated. – The price difference you refer to is of no importance, says Simic. It is also not a given that it is cheaper to live at home than in a nursing home. For example, both Alna district and Østensjø district say that some patients receive services in their own homes that cost more than a place in a nursing home. But for both Sverre, Kari and Lilly, a place in a nursing home is therefore a little more expensive – and a little better. The clock has struck 13 in Oslo, and today’s lunch – an “all time” prawn sandwich – has been consumed. One round of tango is over. And at the nursing home Lilly lives in, it’s time for an afternoon rest. – Now Anny should go and rest a bit too. We get tired. I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep, but it’s good for the body anyway, says Lilly. Before, Lilly mostly slept on her sofa. Now a newly made bed awaits. Lilly takes a rest after a social morning with both Anny and news visiting. Photo: Stephan Reis / news She is helped to bed by Ira, who spreads a blanket over her mother before giving Lilly a hug and saying goodbye. Now that she doesn’t have to look after Lilly as often, Ira has more time for work. – I can lower my shoulders now. I no longer have to worry 24 hours a day, now that I know mum is fine, says Ira. Although much has become easier, Lilly needs help with most things. She has advanced dementia and will live with it for the rest of her life. The back does not get better with age, and neither does the osteoarthritis. Not everything can be repaired anymore. – That’s life. A breath in the reed, which sinks down. A game of forces, which longs for an eternity, says Lilly. – There you got a poem from me.
ttn-69
For under NOK 150,000, Lilly got a dignified life – news Dokumentar
