This guide is informational. Always verify how the rules apply to your specific case.
Last reviewed 16 August 2026.
A concern report about an older person is information to social services that an adult – often with home care, dementia, isolation or financial vulnerability – may be at risk. The report is not a decision, not coercion, and not the same as LVU. Social services must assess whether there is reason to contact the person, offer support, or continue.
This guide is for anyone who wants to report concern about an older relative or neighbour, and for the older person who has been reported. For another adult outside elderly care, read adult concern reports. For children, start with concern reports about children.
How to file a concern report about an older person
How do you report concern about an older person? Contact social services in the municipality where the person is registered, often the older-person, dementia, home-care or out-of-hours unit. Describe concrete events with dates. Call 112 if there is acute danger.
- Find the right intake. Use the municipality’s e-service or phone line for adult/older-person reports. Evenings and weekends: the social emergency service. Life-threatening situations: 112.
- Describe what you have seen. Missed meals, falls, insecurity, unused medication, someone withdrawing money, an unsafe home. Avoid diagnoses you cannot support.
- Say if children live in the household. Different rules then apply. See concern reports about children.
- Ask about anonymity before giving your name if you are a private person and need that.
- Ask for confirmation that the information was received. Secrecy may limit feedback.
Professionals in health and social care may have a separate duty to report deficiencies (lex Sarah). That is a different track from a private person’s concern report.
What happens after a concern report about an older person?
- Intake: social services records the information and makes an initial assessment.
- Contact: the older person may be called, receive a letter, or get a home visit. Relatives are not contacted automatically.
- Offer: home care, a safety alarm, carer support, day activities, or a referral to healthcare.
- Investigation if needed: often with consent. Without consent the scope is more limited than in child cases.
- Close or support: the matter is closed, support is granted, or another authority is involved.
A report does not have to be correct. The older person has a right to know what the matter concerns, enough to respond. Document meetings and request the notes.
Home care, dementia and home visits
Many searches about concern reports and older people concern home care that is not enough, dementia that makes daily life unsafe, or relatives being shut out of information. Social services can offer more help, but the older person usually decides as long as they can take a position.
Dementia may reduce decision-making capacity. That does not automatically mean coercion. A legal guardian may become relevant – that is a district-court track, not LVU. Ask in writing what is being investigated and which sources are used. Before a home visit: home-visit checklist and prepare the meeting.
Concern reports and financial exploitation of older people
Worry that someone is withdrawing money, forcing gifts or isolating the older person from the bank and relatives can be reported to social services. It may also be a crime. File a police report if you suspect fraud or unlawful disposal. Social services do not replace a police report.
Describe transactions, dates and who has access to a bank dongle or BankID. Ask that the information is recorded. Secrecy may limit what relatives are told, even when they made the report.
Coercion after a concern report about an older person: not LVU
LVU applies to children, not older adults. For adults, other laws may apply in serious danger:
- Social Services Act – voluntary support: home care, housing, carer support.
- LVM – compulsory care for serious substance abuse, with special requirements. Read LVM reporting step by step.
- LPT – compulsory psychiatric care, a healthcare process – not the same as a concern report. Read what LPT means.
If someone talks about “taking into care” an older person: ask for the legal basis and decision in writing. Related: adult concern reports and a JO complaint if the handling is deficient.
Difference: child, adult and older person
| Child | Older person / adult | |
|---|---|---|
| Coercion | LVU may apply | LVU does not apply; LVM/LPT only with special requirements |
| Support | Child protection | Home care and support if the person consents |
| Your guide | Child concern reports | This article / adult concern reports |
Can you report concern about an older person anonymously?
As a private person you can often ask the municipality about anonymity before giving your name. Municipalities have different e-services. Some professionals have a reporting duty and then cannot be anonymous in the same way. You do not always learn who reported. You should still be told what the investigation concerns.
If you yourself have been reported as an older person
- Ask in writing: what is this about, which sources are used?
- Bring a support person to the meeting.
- Record conversations you take part in, and send a follow-up email.
- Request the documents and correct errors in the notes.
- If the handling is deficient: a JO complaint.
Common questions about concern reports and older people
How do you file a concern report about an older person?
Contact social services in the municipality where the person lives, often the older-person, home-care or out-of-hours unit. Describe concrete events with dates. Call 112 if there is acute danger.
What happens after a concern report about an older person?
Social services assesses the information, may contact the older person and offer support. It is not automatic coercion and not LVU.
Can you report an older person anonymously?
As a private person you can often ask about anonymity before giving your name. Professionals may have other duties.
Can social services force an older person into home care?
The main rule is voluntariness. LVU does not apply to adults. Other laws may apply only in serious danger, with special requirements.
Who do you report to if an older person is being financially exploited?
Social services in the municipality, and the police if you suspect a crime. Social services do not replace a police report.
How is this different from an adult concern report?
The same main rules: no LVU, voluntary support. The older-person track more often concerns home care, dementia and financial exploitation. Also read the adult concern-report guide.
