When everyday life becomes science

An important aim for Swedish elderly care is to make possible for frail elderly people to remain living in their own homes since home, it is argued, is a vital resource for an independent ageing. Interviews with elderly with home-based community care show however that the importance that is attributed to home exceeds the notion of home as a resource. Home has a more profound meaning; it is seen as a source of independence and an expression of identity. In the article we argue, that the shift in perspective, from home as a resource to home as source of independence and an expression of identity, carries welfare political implications. The perspective on home as a source of independence surpass the prevailing notion of independence as something that a person achieve outside of home. The emphasis put on home by the elderly, as a source of independence and an expression of identity, points to the need and importance of services that address elderly peoples difficulties uphold their sense of home.