BACKGROUND: The growing population of older adults with long-term drug use has been largely overlooked in research. While most research on street culture have focused on younger men, the experiences of aging within these environments have received limited attention. This study seeks to address that gap.

METHODS: We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with men aged 55 or older with current and long-term drug use, in Malmö, Sweden. The data were analyzed using a thematic approach.

RESULTS: Our analysis identified three overarching themes that illustrate the men's status and strategies within street culture: (1) Mastering the game - Age as street capital: The men often viewed older age as an asset, associating it with accumulated knowledge and respect within street culture. (2) Staying in the game - Adapting to aging: Some men described adapting their methods of obtaining money and drugs in response to age-related changes. (3) Leaving the game - Withdrawal and marginalization: Others distanced themselves from people and activities within street culture.

CONCLUSION: Our findings show how aging reshapes older men's status, relationships, and survival strategies within street culture, revealing both resilience and vulnerability. Aging, in this context, is understood as a social process, emphasizing its significance within street culture.

Older adults with long-term drug use have long been overlooked in both drug research and agingresearch. More knowledge is needed about their experiences and needs. Drug use is often seen asa youth phenomenon and as something that with time leads to destructiveness and compulsion. Amore nuanced picture of who uses drugs and what the use may look like over time is necessary.There is limited insight into what it means to age with drug use, based on individuals’ own storiesand experiences. We conducted 27 semistructured interviews in Sweden with individuals aged 55or older who reported current and long-term drug use. In this article, we demonstrate how the relationship with drugs evolves over time and how the interviewees contemplate stopping or continuingtheir use. Three themes were identified: (1) Aging out of drug use: Thoughts on drug cessation. Someexpressed a desire to end their drug use. The reasons behind this varied, but there was a clear patternrelated to older age. (2) Aging with drug use: Thoughts on continued use. Some had a desire to continueusing drugs and expressed concern about how everyday life would be without them. (3) Age adapteddrug use: A change in drug use. Several participants stated that their drug consumption had changedover time and with age. Drugs no longer dominated their lives as before but still served essential functions. The themes should not be seen as rigid categories, but as fluid narratives. Understanding thisvariation provides a deeper insight into people’s often complex relationship with drugs.

Background: After an older person moves into a nursing home, the next of kin often continues to participate in the care provided there. This participation in care may contribute valuable knowledge of the preferences and wishes of the older person, thereby helping nursing staff deliver personalised care. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore how next of kin experience their participation in the care of older persons residing in nursing homes after educating nursing staff about participation in palliative care. Methods: This follow-up study used a qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with 37 next of kin. A thematic analysis was applied. Results: Participation of the next of kin involved active communication and collaboration with nursing staff, expressed in three themes: striving to achieve co-created care, navigating involvement through presence, and building commitment through communication and information. The dual role of being an emotionally close next of kin and a participant in the relative’s care was challenging and became increasingly burdensome and often overwhelming when the older person’s health deteriorated. Conclusions: This study reveals the need to develop and implement a policy for the participation of next of kin in the care of older people living in nursing homes. In addition, support groups can increase well-being through dialogue with other next of kin, thereby alleviating emotional strain. Increased implementation of life stories and the use of digital communication would keep the next of kin informed about the older person’s condition, especially when they cannot be present in person. Life story is a valuable tool for person-centred care and strengthens the relationships between the next of kin, the older person, and the nursing staff.

Family carers have a growing significance, and they are increasingly regarded as clients in need of support. In Sweden, the municipal support for family carers is often provided by family care advisors. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding this relatively new area of social work practice. This article aims to explore how family care advisors describe their work and construct their professional role in relation to family carers. The empiric material derives from a research circle, a form of focus group interview, with family care advisors. The theoretical framework is based on the concept categorical pair, where the description of the family care advisors’ work includes constructing themselves as professionals and the family carers as clients. Four themes have emerged in their stories: being neutral, being allies, being a container, and being an educator. The findings show how the family care advisors’ relationship with the family carers is described as being simultaneously personal and professional: a form of professional friendship with a delicate balancing act. The family care advisors also view their neutral role, with no power to exercise authority, as important and required. Family carers that are perceived as difficult are described from a paternalistic perspective, thus needing to be educated by the family care advisors. Accordingly, when the family care advisors construct their professional role, they also construct family carers, which includes implicit moral notions of a ‘good carer’.

A growing number of older people with dementia are continuing to live in their own homes for prolonged periods, leading to a growing number of family carers. An aging population and neoliberal austerity politics are contributing to increased family-provided care instead of formal care services. This is particularly noticeable in the Nordic context, where the welfare state has traditionally been based on universalizing policies designed to mitigate inequalities. The aim of this article is to explore societal expectations of family caregivers and the rhetoric surrounding family caregiving through analyzing a Swedish handbook entitled Dementia for Family Carers: A Handbook from the Swedish Dementia Centre. The textual analysis identifies the various responsibilities expected of family caregivers and illustrates how this responsibility can best be designed. The responsibility of family carers is perceived as natural and self-evident, especially in the context of spouses or partners. In such relationships, when caring for someone with dementia, the expectation is that the carer will transition into a caregiving role rather than continuing to be a life partner. Family caregivers are also expected to be central coordinators of formal and informal care. Furthermore, the responsibility includes the carers’ own self-care and ensuring they have the necessary knowledge and support. In tandem with the refamilization process, in which more family carers are providing care for relatives, idealizing and norm-making processes of family caregiving are emerging. This responsibilization process is crafting conceptions of the good carer, one who is responsible for relatives and formal care, while also prioritizing their own well-being.

Moving into a nursing home is a signifcant transition for older people which can be emotional and stressful. Te literature on thedecision to move and subsequent residential stress focuses on the time after admission; however, there is less understanding ofolder people’s management of the process. To fully understand and possibly reduce negative consequences and health-relatedrisks, the aim of this article is to explore how older people manage the transition from home to nursing home. Te study is basedon 21 longitudinal interviews with seven older people during the process of moving. Following Dorothy Smith’s theory of work,the analysis fnds three types of work—practical, relational, and emotional—that older people engage in during the transitionprocess. Te results highlight the importance of considering the entire transition process, not only experiences before or after, ifwe are to reduce the negative, stress-related consequences of relocations of this kind. Te fndings have practical implications forprofessionals in health and social care and point to the need to develop practical, relational, and emotional support for olderpeople throughout the transition process.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of incurable visual impairment and impacts daily life. These impacts include loss of social activities, decreased functional independence, and reduced physical activity. This protocol aims to describe a prospective, mixed-methodology for studying a population with AMD before, during, and after an empowerment-based physical activity intervention (EPI). A study framework was also developed for EPI. The intervention will include 20 older individuals (age 65+ years) with AMD recruited in Sweden. The intervention period is six months and comprises adapted physical activity and social activities in a group twice a week and individual health coaching on three occasions. The quantitative pre-test and three follow-ups include physical functional tests, an accelerometer that monitors physical activity continuously for one week, and questionnaires. Individual and focus-group interviews and ethnographic observations will explore the experience of living with AMD and what it means to participate in the EPI for individuals with AMD. The chosen methodology offers a structured way for researchers to explore the experiences and factors that may provide insights into the potential of creative supervised, adapted physical activity in groups, health coaching, and socialising that are significant to enable well-being among older individuals with AMD.