The paper investigates presentations of ethnically profiled nursing homes in Sweden, and in particular what categories these nursing homes target and what problems they are suggested to solve. The findings relate to the construction of older immigrants and to shifting ideas on responsibilities of the Swedish welfare state. Data consisted of 68 articles from newspapers and journals between the period of 1995 and 2015 that were analysed using qualitative methods. Guided by a social constructionist approach focusing on claims-making, two comprehensive ‘problem frames’ were identified: the language and culture frame and the choice of lifestyle frame. The main finding of the paper was that, since about 2007, descriptions of ethnically profiled nursing homes have come to be included in a broader category of profiled nursing homes such as ‘all inclusive’ and ‘hotel-concept’, within a system that focuses on choice based on special needs, lifestyle and interest. The paper concludes that, although this way of framing ethnically profiled nursing homes works against the construction of older immigrants as a problematic category, there is a risk that the emphasis on choice of lifestyle conceals or justifies inequalities based on social class.

I artikeln undersöks massmediala presentationer av etniskt profilerade äldreboenden i Sverige, med särskild fokus på vilka problem boendena anses lösa och hur deras målgrupp beskrivs. Studiens fynd diskuteras i relation till samhälleliga föreställningar om äldre invandrare och till skiftande föreställningar om den svenska välfärdsstatens ansvar. Data bestod av 68 artiklar från tidningar och tidskrifter under perioden 1995 till 2015 som analyserades kvalitativt. Genom användandet av en socialkonstruktionistisk ansats som fokuserar anspråksformulering identifierades två sammanhållna problemperspektiv: ‘språk och kulturperspektivet’ och ‘val av livsstilsperspektivet’. Ett huvudfynd var att sedan omkring 2007 har etniskt profilerade äldreboenden kommit att inkluderas i en bredare kategori av profilerade äldreboenden med namn som ‘all inclusive’ och ‘hotellkoncept’ inom ett system som fokuserar valfrihet baserad på särskilda behov, livsstilar och intressen. En slutsats är att den nya inramningen kan bidra till att tona ned föreställningar om äldre invandrare som en problemkategori, men det finns en risk att betoningen av val av livsstil döljer eller rättfärdigar social ojämlikhet som baseras på klasstillhörighet.

Swedish nursing home residents are very frail, but a new trend is for nursing homes to adopt a lifestyle profile. Based on interviews with 16 representatives of care organisations, this study investigates the reasons for adopting profiles in this way. The analysis shows that the existence of lifestyle profiles is strongly linked to a market discourse centred on freedom of choice. It is concluded that lifestyle profiles are used as a differentiation strategy in order to justify marketisation, exposing the Swedish eldercare system – which does not permit competition on the basis of price or standards of care – to market forces.