Incorrect medication lists, staff who do not speak Swedish well, a caregiver who yelled at the 86-year-old woman, and a double staffing arrangement that, according to the family, was never implemented. Astrid’s daughter Marika describes a home care service staffed by people from the Middle East, plagued by recurring shortcomings. In the end, Astrid’s shoulder was injured so badly that her path back to an independent life was closed off.
86-year-old Astrid needed help in her daily life, but she remained clear-headed and still hoped to one day return to a more independent existence. Home care was mainly a temporary solution while waiting for scheduled hip surgeries.
Today, the future looks entirely different. Astrid now lives in a nursing home and, according to Marika, will not be able to move back home. The family is now facing the prospect of selling her apartment.
Marika describes her mother as an “incredibly strong” woman. However, the road to the current situation was beset, in her account, by a series of problems with the Lindome home care service.
– There have been so many incidents with this home care that just hasn’t worked. And this was really the final straw.
Shoulder Dislocated – Lived With the Injury for Weeks
The most serious incident occurred at the beginning of the year. The family does not know exactly when Astrid’s shoulder became dislocated. However, Astrid began experiencing severe pain and called her daughter at the end of January.
– Mom called me and said: “I’m in terrible pain.”
At the time, Marika had covid and did not want to risk infecting her mother. Instead, she contacted the home nursing service and asked them to examine Astrid.
According to Marika, a nurse arrived who did not introduce herself. She noted that Astrid was swollen and bruised around the shoulder.
– Then they left and called me, saying: “No, there’s nothing wrong with your mother.”
Was it a Swedish nurse?
– No.
READ ALSO: Daughter of demented 98-year-old: “Mom died in agony – staff wanted her to learn Arabic”
Five days later, Marika could visit herself.
– I saw how swollen it was, and how dark blue her shoulder was. I said: “No, we’re going to the emergency room immediately.”
At the hospital, it was determined that the shoulder was dislocated. Meanwhile, according to her daughter, Astrid was forced to keep using the injured arm whenever the home care staff needed to help her to, for example, the bathroom.
At the hospital, four attempts were made to put the shoulder back in place. They failed.
– It was too late because too much time had passed. It must be done immediately.
READ ALSO: Retired women increasingly plundered – hit hardest by fraud
In the end, Astrid had to have a shoulder prosthesis. The consequences did not stop with her shoulder. The hip surgeries she had been waiting for could no longer be performed because, after the shoulder operation, she couldn’t put any weight on the shoulder and couldn’t lie in the required positions.
According to Marika, it’s now been so long that it’s no longer possible to carry out the hip operations. This means what started as temporary help from home care while waiting for surgery ended up with Astrid losing her chance to return to her previous life.
READ ALSO: Home care gang-affiliated Eritrean raped 82-year-old in her home – avoids deportation
How is your mother today?
– Well, she’s sort of accepted it. Unfortunately, she has to stay in the nursing home now, so she’ll never be independent again. She is very sad about that.
“Neighbors Didn’t Know If They Should Call the Police”
According to Marika, the shoulder injury was far from the first problem. She says her own daughter, a nurse, had earlier spotted issues with Astrid’s medication lists.
– There have been both wrong combinations of medicines and medicines that should have been discontinued but weren’t.
This staff was standing and yelling at mom so loudly that the neighbors didn’t know if they should call the police, because they’d woken up.
Marika, daughter of Astrid, 86
On other occasions, according to Marika, the home care staff didn’t have time for Astrid’s visits and would turn directly to Marika herself.
– They’ve been bold enough that, when they didn’t have time to go to mom, they’d call me and ask if I could go there instead.
READ ALSO: Home care in new Sweden: Sexual assaults at night and “haram” to drink light beer
The family also reports major problems with parts of the staff. During one night visit, a male caregiver allegedly stood and screamed at Astrid. At the time, she had three planned nightly visits and great difficulty moving herself.
– This staff was yelling at mom so that the neighbors didn’t know if they should call the police, because they’d woken up.
How would you describe this man?
– He came from the Middle East and couldn’t speak Swedish properly.
READ ALSO: He lay in his own feces for eight hours – “If I say something, I’ll lose my job”
After Marika reported the incident, he no longer visited Astrid. On another occasion, Marika’s daughter heard a caregiver tell Astrid he couldn’t help her to the bathroom.
– He said: “I can’t help you to the bathroom, because I can’t do it by myself; I’ll hurt my neck.”
But, Marika notes, that was precisely why staff were sent there. That caregiver, too, had problems with the Swedish language, according to her.
READ ALSO: Christer, 76, on life at the nursing home: “If you criticize, you’re called xenophobic”
Decision for Two Caregivers – But Only One Arrived
Astrid had such significant physical limitations that in autumn 2025, a decision for double staffing was taken. Two people were supposed to help her. But according to Marika, that did not actually happen.
– Not until this incident with mom’s arm did two people start coming.
Mom is clear-headed and can clearly explain where it hurts, and so on. But it hasn’t been taken seriously. There’s always someone else who is supposed to do it. They haven’t understood that they themselves are that “someone else” and are in that role.
Marika, daughter of Astrid, 86
She is strongly critical of how such a basic safety measure could be missed.
– They don’t even read their own schedules.
Marika returns several times to the staff’s level of training, experience, and ability to communicate with the elderly.
– I don’t understand why untrained staff are hired.
READ ALSO: Doctor slams the government’s exemption: “Elderly care is being used for wage dumping”
She thinks that at the very least, there must be requirements on how someone who works with vulnerable elderly people should conduct themselves.
– If they want to bring in staff, fine, but then they have to teach people about proper treatment. Would you want to be treated like this yourself?
According to Marika, language is yet another recurring problem.
Astrid is not demented and can clearly describe where she is hurting and what is wrong. Nevertheless, the daughter believes that her statements haven’t been taken seriously enough.
– Mom is clear-headed and can clearly explain where it hurts and such. But it hasn’t been taken seriously.
Marika also reports that Swedish-speaking staff have, in retrospect, admitted seeing shortcomings. Her question is why no one then raised the alarm.
– It’s always someone else who should do it. They haven’t understood that they themselves are that “someone else” and are in the role.
“How Is It for These Poor People?”
At least Astrid has a safety net that many elderly people lack. Both Marika and her daughter work in health care, and the family also includes several people with medical training. They can check medication lists, notice discrepancies, challenge decisions, and react when something’s wrong. Even so, this happened.
For Marika, this raises a much bigger question: What happens to those elderly people who have no one?
– How is it for these poor souls? Both those without close relatives and those who lack knowledge about care.
READ ALSO: Municipality let convicted felon work in home care – plundered demented pensioner’s assets
She says other elderly women at the nursing home have described similar experiences from home care and expressed appreciation that the family has spoken publicly about Astrid’s case.
– I feel so sorry for these other people. And I know some have lived in utter misery because of it.
Marika believes the status of trained care staff must be raised and also criticizes elderly care being used to bring people far from the labor market into work.
She herself works in health care and says she has received people for integration into the labor market. In some cases, she has sounded the alarm to the training provider.
– I’ve called the school to say this person should not work with people, and this person cannot stay with us. Because you have much more work to do with them before they’re sent out to others.
READ ALSO: When imagined goodness comes before responsibility – and the elderly pay the price
For Astrid, the consequences can no longer be undone. Home care was supposed to help her through a period of physical weakness until her planned hip operations. Instead, the period ended with a destroyed shoulder, a prosthesis, and hip operations which, according to her daughter, can no longer be carried out.
The apartment where Astrid was supposed to continue her life now has to be sold. And the 86-year-old woman who is still clear-headed is having to get used to the idea that she will never come home again.