Introduction and Aim: There is limited scientific knowledge about older people with severe mental illness and the support they receive in municipal housing and home care. Greater knowledge of their life situation can contribute to the development of support and care interventions for the target group. The aim was to describe how older people with severe mental illness experience their life situation and the support they receive in their daily lives in ordinary housing or care homes.

Method and Results: The project is a part of an EU project “Innovatedignity” focusing on sustainable and dignified care for older people. Thirteen lifeworld interviews were conducted with older people (11 women and 2 men), between 65 to 81 years of age, with severe mental illness who receive support and care from municipal care staff in their own home or in special housing in the municipality. The interviews were conducted in the older people’s homes, lasting between 40 to 60 minutes. The interviews were characterized by openness and flexibility towards the phenomenon of the study “the life situation and support in everyday life and in the home”. The opening questions were: “Can you tell me about a usual day in your life?” and “How do you experience the support you receive from municipal care staff in your everyday life and in your home?” The data was analyzed with a phenomenological meaning analysis based on a Reflective Lifeworld Research (RLR) approach.All of the older people with severe mental illness had experiences of being treated or cared for in mental hospitals or psychiatric care homes earlier in their lives. Preliminary findings indicate that their everyday life was characterized by routines, such as eating, receiving help with cleaning and personal hygiene, and going for walks, watching television, or smoking. The older people in special housing talk of there being some members of staff who they feel they can trust and who they feel understand them, but they have little contact or connection with the other residents. Their contact with other residents was minimal because they do not have a sense of companionship with them or have the same interests. The older people in ordinary housing receive less support from municipal care staff, and most of this support was for cleaning and purchasing food and other supplies.

Conclusion: To conclude, the result is characterized by a sense of loneliness and a lack of belonging, even though the majority lived in housing together with others. There is a challenge for the municipalities to create accommodation for elderly people with severe mental illness that can feel like a home and not an institution with locked doors and long corridors.