The article reports some results from a study about an Everyday rehabilitation-project in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq. Everyday rehabilitation in home care has spread rapidly in Scandinavia through the last few years and is part of a worldwide focus on ‘active ageing’ because of a growing share of people 65+ years. Many citizens benefit from rehabilitative services, but research shows that those in most need often are excluded from home care services because of a one-sided focus on ‘growth’. This can bring along conflicts between professionals and citizens and a lack of relevant support for citizens. The purpose of this study was to investigate citizens’ perspectives on a good life as old in Nuuk and how rehabilitation can support them in conducting a meaningful life from their own perspectives.
The study was conducted as an ethnographic field study. The methods were participant observations, qualitative interviews and document analysis.
The study shows that home care and rehabilitation services are concentrated on practical and instrumental help, disconnected from the citizens’ everyday life, their resources and values. This has a passivating and demotivating effect. Old people are proud of their achievements in life, they are actively managing their lives on a daily basis, and they have dreams for the future. But they do need professional assistance. Their everyday life-knowledge and perspectives have to be integrated in professional practice in order to improve the quality of home care services through cooperation between citizens and professionals. An action possibility is proposed, namely a certain approach to ‘life stories’ as an instrument to involve the citizens as participants in home care and rehabilitation.
