Unable to shower or see friends • Stopped from getting help • “Not feeling well at all”
The problem is the stairs in the house, it prevents him from going down, showering and going out. A stroke left Jan paralyzed on the left side of his body a few years ago, and the complications have gotten worse over time.
From the middle of September this year, the home service is no longer allowed to help him down the stairs, as they fell with him twice in a short time.
– I can’t come downstairs and can’t get out through the front door. And can’t I get out, and have a social life, and meet old acquaintances – do you have a social life then? Jan wonders.
Refuses to move
But even though he is tired of not being able to move freely, he does not want to move.
– I thought that you would help the people who end up in boring situations to have a somewhat tolerable life in their old age, says Jan.
Wouldn’t it be worth moving from here to somewhere you can get out?
– Not for me, not for me.
The City of Stockholm has not been able to attend an interview and does not want to comment on individual cases either. In a message to TV4 Nyheterna, the municipality writes:
“When we cannot carry out approved home care efforts, for example due to the risk of injury to the user, or risks in the staff’s work environment, we always propose alternative solutions. It could be, for example, refurnishing the home, assistive devices or home adaptation”.
Confined for six months
The pensioners’ national organization, PRO, believes that more people may suffer from similar problems as Jan, even if his case stands out.
– We hear stories about members who have difficulty getting out. Then it is both that you cannot move down stairs, but also that you sometimes do not get the aid decision that you need. So that you might only get one walk a week, because you need help getting out, says Carina Benjaminsson, senior care expert at PRO.
– You need to get better at adapting housing, adapting stairwells and making sure that the processing is faster so that you get help in time, she adds.
Jan Bergvall recognizes that things take too long. In time, he will get a stairlift, but according to Jan, it could take months.
– It doesn’t feel good at all. So now I’ve been sitting for over six months without getting outside the door, he says.