Already in April 2022, Umeå municipality's elderly committee announced that a department with a Sami profile would open in a care home in the spring of 2023.

This was after the municipality's elderly care in 2021 sent out a survey to older people who identified themselves as Sami and 90 percent of those who responded said that it was important to have a unit with a Sami focus.

But the work has dragged on and so far no accommodation with a Sami unit has been opened.

Now, however, it may finally be underway and Sámi Radio reports that in the spring of 2024, Umeå hopes that the Sámi unit will be ready.

"We think that both the indoor and outdoor environment should have a Sámi profile. There is a need to preferably receive elderly care in the Sámi language or at least in a Sámi unit, says Anna Bergström, Quality Manager for the Elderly Care Administration in Umeå Municipality.

However, the recruitment of staff has not yet begun.

"We hope that we will get more applicants who can speak Sámi," says Bergström.

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Carin Nilsson (S) on the need for Sámi nursing homes in Umeå after the decision was made in 2022. Photo: Josefine Holgersson/SVT Sápmi