ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the process of categorization in home care assessment meetings and case fi les. Older persons’ requests for home care are dealt with through the processing of applications. The point of departure of this analysis is the idea that priorities are actively negotiated by the involved parties through interaction during assessment meetings and in the written documentation. The specifi c aim of this paper is to examine how welfare organizations such as those providing elderly care use categorization to deal with people’s needs and how these practices have an impact on the decisions made. Looking for similarities as well as differences across cases, I explore the categorization process in two comparable situations-that is, situations in which the older persons are applying for similar services.
