title: Introducing an Equal Rights Framework for Older Persons in Residential Care.
abstract: This article reconceptualizes residential care for older persons by introducing a framework developed from a rights-based principle of disability policies: the normalization principle. This principle is part of the social model and states that society should make available for people who have impairments living conditions that are as close as possible to those of "others." Using the framework on the case of eldercare in Sweden shows that although disability policies have used people without impairments as a comparative (external) reference group for claiming rights, eldercare policies use internal reference groups, basing comparisons on other care users. The article highlights the need for external comparisons in eldercare and suggests that the third age, which so far has been a normative reference group for older people, could be a comparative reference group when older persons in need of care claim rights to equal conditions.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. hakan.jonson@soch.lu.se.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jönson
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tove
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harnett
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D009735:Nursing Homes; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Disability policies; Long-term care; Normalization; Social model