Paper long abstract:

Increasingly care work for fragile elderly Danes living in their own homes has become the obligation of the state. Municipalities make home care available through staff, such as home nurses, who provide citizens with professional nursing. This makes home nurses important caretakers vis-à-vis elderly people.

Kin are one of the most important, though still unrecognized, resource for people suffering from poor health. Many elderly people gradually lose their spouse, kin and friends, and consequently social relations, which are not replaced. This study, which takes place in a home nurse organization, focus on the tendency for nurses and staff to develop essential social relations with elderly home care receivers, as well as providing state organized care and home nursing. Using an anthropological understanding this paper discuss such social relations from the perspective of the elderly person and the home nurse.