Caring staff daily meet elderly people who are in vulnerable situations.

Much of the work is about being able to capture and understand the needs and desires of older people and to convey information.

The fact that communication works is extremely important in all care meetings. The staff must be able to communicate with the older person himself, with that person's relatives but also with their colleagues.

Therefore, employers must ensure that staff have the right knowledge in the language as well. The pensioners' national organization, PRO, wants measures to raise the level of knowledge in Swedish.

Knowledge of multiple languages ​​is an asset in the elderly. More and more mother tongue other than Swedish is reaching retirement age, and thus also needs care from the community.

That staff in elderly care can know more languages ​​than Swedish is an asset. For example, when an elderly demented person, who has returned to speaking only his mother tongue, may meet a nurse with the same mother tongue.

But Swedish should always be a basic competence of all nurses.

People who cannot speak Swedish today often work on their own, as in the home service. They often lack guidance or education in Swedish, according to a recently published government report on competence in care and care (SOU 2019: 20).

There are examples of how language deficiencies can cause pure violations and also lead to life-threatening situations for the elderly. The Inspectorate for Healthcare and Care, IVO, considers that language deficiencies are a risk in care.

Not being able to understand can mean the difference between life and death.

Therefore, it is not acceptable that the elderly, many times in a vulnerable and private situation, cannot communicate with the staff.

Language tests are often presented as a requirement in the debate about language deficiencies in the elderly. PRO believes that there are more solutions.

We want to see powerful measures to increase knowledge where there is a need. We affirm that people with a mother tongue other than Swedish work in the elderly. More people, regardless of origin, need to apply for jobs in the elderly if we are to maintain the quality.

Elderly care faces a huge challenge in recruiting staff. According to Statistics Sweden, Statistics Sweden, in 2035 Sweden will lack 160,000 employees in care and care, if nothing is done to reverse the development.

So more staff is needed - and the staff must be able to speak Swedish.

Some actions are more important than others. The inquiry points out that there are educators who even conduct education in the students' home languages, to get them approved. PRO believes that all education should take place in Swedish.

PRO wants to see suggestions on how more people will be given the opportunity to train for nurses and assistants. We also want employers to educate those already in the profession, and to address the shortcomings in language skills.

We see a great opportunity to recruit people for the elderly, if they are only equipped with the right skills for their important assignment.