Eskilstuna Health & Social Care
Communicating a future nobody really wanted to talk about
Eskilstuna Municipality faced the same challenge as many parts of Sweden: a rapidly growing elderly population, increasing care needs, and a healthcare system where resources, staff and care capacity would eventually struggle to meet demand. At the same time, the municipality was implementing new ways of working aimed at improving quality of life, increasing independence and creating a more sustainable model for future health and social care.
The challenge
The challenge was not only organisational, but communicational.
Public discussion around elderly care was already highly sensitive and shaped by criticism, concern and negative media narratives. Any attempt to communicate change risked being interpreted as cost-cutting, reduced care or dehumanisation, despite the fact that the actual goal was the opposite: improving care quality while preparing the system for future realities.
Early on, it became clear that the communication needed to remain calm, factual and trustworthy. Communication that became too emotional risked intensifying the debate even further. But communication that became too technical would never reach people emotionally or create understanding.
The insight
No matter how much funding is added, future elderly care will require entirely new ways of working.
The issue was therefore not only economic, but structural: how healthcare, rehabilitation and social care could be reorganised to help more people remain independent for longer, while allowing staff and care resources to be used where they create the greatest impact.
The communication therefore needed to explain why change was necessary, not only what the municipality was changing.
The solution
Instead of traditional informational films, we developed a concept built around illustrative animated storytelling.
Animation allowed the communication to stay neutral, calm and pedagogical, without triggering unnecessary discussion around casting, environments, clothing, representation or other visual details that could easily shift focus away from the actual message.
The final delivery included:
- 1 main film introducing the future challenges of elderly care
- 5 topic-specific films explaining different initiatives and new working methods within health and social care
The films were designed to make complex societal and healthcare issues understandable for multiple audiences simultaneously, healthcare staff, patients, relatives and the general public.
Outcome
The project became an example of how communication and design can help create understanding around complex societal transformation, not by simplifying the problem away, but by making it possible for people to engage with it constructively.
Rather than functioning as traditional municipal information, the work focused on building trust around change, and creating a language for a future that had already started to affect both healthcare systems and the people depending on them.