Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) guidance on primary care now available in Swedish
A key international handbook on how to improve care for older people is now available in Swedish. The document, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), focuses on person-centred care in primary healthcare and has been carefully translated with help from experts at Karolinska Institutet and partner organisations.
The handbook, Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE): Guidance on Person-Centred Assessment and Care Pathways in Primary Care (second edition), provides guidance on how healthcare services can better meet the needs of older adults. It explains how primary care professionals can assess and support older people in a more holistic way, including identifying and managing cognitive impairment at an early stage.
Translation led by experts at Karolinska Institutet
The Swedish translation was led by, among others, Dorota Religa, work package leader at Karolinska Institutet’s Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalised Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCeDem). The translation work itself was carried out by Jesper Dalum, representing the Academic Center for Geriatric Dentistry (ACT) at Karolinska Institutet.
A structured and collaborative process was used to make sure the Swedish version stays true to the meaning of the original text while using clear and appropriate language.
Strong focus on cognition and clinical relevance
An expert group with expertise in areas such as geriatrics, cognitive medicine, primary care, nursing, dentistry and academic health sciences supported the work. The translated text was reviewed and validated by Dorota Religa, Charlotta Elleby, Marie Tyrell, Julia Gyhagen and Julia Religa. They assessed both the language and the scientific and clinical accuracy of the content.
Special attention was given to Chapter 5, which focuses on cognition. Topics such as cognitive assessment and cognitive impairment were discussed in depth to ensure that the content is relevant to Swedish healthcare practice and uses terminology that is familiar to professionals working in this field.
Collaboration across healthcare and academia
The translation is the result of a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet, Academic Center for Geriatric Dentistry (ACT), Sophiahemmet University College and Ersta Hospital. It reflects a shared ambition to promote high-quality, evidence-based and person-centred care for older people.
The work was carried out within the framework of the SOF Project Grant Assessing intrinsic capacity: Swedish translation of a basic assessment for loss of intrinsic capacity and co-creation of a pilot in a dental setting (FoUI-1029198), funded for the period 2026–2028.