In order to receive personal assistance from Försäkringskassan, it is required that you belong to the circle of people and that the basic need for help exceeds 20 hours per week. If you don't get up for 20 hours

in basic need of help, you can turn to your municipality and get a decision on personal assistance

through them instead. The municipality has no requirement for a "minimum number" of hours to be fulfilled.
 

 

What is accepted as basic needs?

The basic needs have been considered in legislation to be help to cope with personal hygiene, meals, dressing and undressing, breathing, communication, support to prevent harm in the case of a mental disability and support that needs to be provided on an ongoing basis due to a medical condition. The needs for help must be of a very personal nature, i.e. close to integrity. In connection with personal hygiene, the part must be physically close. In practice, in many cases the following has been accepted; nail and skin care, tooth brushing, shaving, washing up and help in connection with toilet visits. Even if a person is able to perform these steps purely motorically, there may be circumstances which mean that the individual cannot or should perform the step without help. Certain transfers that take place in close connection with the basic need can also be accepted.

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Meals

In connection with meals, as a general rule, only the consumption of the food is included as a basic need. That is, help in bringing the food to the mouth or help ingesting food in another way. There may also be situations where the individual can bring the food to the mouth purely motorically, but due to a cognitive impairment or dementia, does not understand that one must eat. There may also be a need for supervision
in connection with the meal. Alternative food intake has in practice been approved as a basic need, provided that the need for assistance is assessed as self-care. This also includes time for tube feeding. It is clear from practice that all time from switch-on to switch-off is included, but some authorities apply this practice restrictively. As a result, there is also a need for supervision or active help during the tube feeding itself in order for all time to be granted. Otherwise, sometimes only time is granted for switching on and off.

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Personal hygiene

Help with personal hygiene counts as help with a basic need if the aim is to keep oneself clean. Help with, for example, make-up or hair wrapping does not count. The help must be of a very private or privacy-sensitive nature.

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Dressing and undressing

A third element that is judged to be close to privacy is dressing and undressing. This is limited to include only the actual situations that involve clothes coming on and off. The clothes that are judged to be close to integrity are all indoor clothes, including prostheses, support socks and orthoses. Outerwear is not included in the basic needs.

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Breath

Help with breathing counts as help with a basic need if you have a documented impairment of breathing function and there are risks to your health, ultimately your life, if you don't get the help. Aid that more generally improves your ability to breathe, or facilitates your breathing, does not count as aid with basic needs, however.

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Communication

Help in connection with communication as a basic need includes communication with third parties. That is, communication with outsiders. The need must be such that an assistant is required for communication to be possible at all. In addition, there must be a need for close acquaintance to be able to understand what the individual is communicating. Use of standard Swedish sign language is not a basic need. On the other hand, communication is included through own signs, or with the help of images, or sometimes single words without context.

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Support to prevent injury in the event of a mental disability

For help with preventing harm in the case of a mental disability, the person who needs the help must have a mental disability. The support must aim to limit serious consequences of the individual's risky behavior. There must be a risk of the individual physically harming himself, someone else or property if he does not get help.

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Support that needs to be provided on an ongoing basis due to a medical condition

In order for ongoing support for a medical condition to be assessed as help with basic needs, it is required that

• the need exists continuously for most of the day, i.e. without interruption for more than 12 hours

• the medical condition poses a danger to the individual's life or an imminent and serious risk to his physical health.
  
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