Social benefits for senior citizens

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Personal Finances and Welfare, Social Statistics
Marie Borring Klitgaard
+45 21 55 83 71

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Social benefits for senior citizens 2024

The purpose of these statistics is to display the quality level of municipal services in the elderly care. The statistics are a part of a cross-public cooperation, intended to ensure coherent documentation of important areas of municipal service, as well as to increase the comparability of the services provided in the different municipalities. The statistics are used to determine impact targets, frameworks and results requirements for key management initiatives and are comparable from 2008 onwards. Statistics Denmark is responsible for the composition and publication of the statistics.

Statistical presentation

The statistic is an annual survey including a number of national impact- and background indicators which document and describe the quality of the municipal effort at the elderly area. The indicators consist of referral and provided home care, home nursing, nursing homes, exercise services, rehabilitation, preventative home visits as well as readmissions . Primarily, the indicators are targeted at the elderly area, however home care, exercise services, home nursing as well as nursing homes also include data for citizens under 67 years.

Statistical processing

Before publishing data from the municipalities' EOJ system (electronic care journal), tables and figures are developed, which all municipalities are asked to approve. After the approval, Statistics Denmark detects for data errors as missing numbers, abnormal values and etc.

Relevance

The authorities and public institutions and the population use the indicators for analysis, research, debate, etc. The focus is to ensure more valid documentation at the elderly area. This is achieved by retrieving the information directly from the municipalities' care systems (EOJ), which is constantly updated as a part of the municipalities' case management.

Accuracy and reliability

The municipalities receive control tables, which they are asked to approve. Only approved information is included in the statistics. In the absence of approvals, previous years' information is included in the national totals and averages. For the publication in 2024, between 97 and 98 municipalities are included, depending on the indicator. Lack of approval may be due to the municipality's registration practices, which determine which data is reported, and system or supplier changes, where the reported data may be flawed. There are varying registration practices between municipalities in several areas, which can lead to distortions.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics are published as pre-advertised. The statistics are released approximately 6 months after the reference period has ended.

Comparability

The statistics are generally comparable over time, but there are minor data breaks. The municipalities' change of EOJ provider every five years can affect certain indicators. As of October 1, 2023, new reporting requirements for food service and supplier types resulted in a data break in the statistics on designated home care. Therefore, the figures for 2023 should be compared with previous years with reservations. For hospital usage, there has been no adjustment for the severity of diseases, which affects the comparability between municipalities.

Accessibility and clarity

The statistics are published in News from Statistics Denmark under the topic 'Social conditions'. The figures are published in the StatBank Social benefits for senior citizens. See more on the topic page for the Social benefits for senior citizens.