Swedish: handräckning (disability assistance)

[Gavril]

Some excerpts from a text about how the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) has determined a disabled child's benefits:

Försäkringskassan beviljar 30 minuter per ledig dag och 15 minuter per skoldag för hjälp med förflyttning och handräckning.

Det framgår i utredningen att [...] han behöver hjälp med vissa andra förflyttningar. Försäkringskassan bedömer även att han har behov av hjälp med viss handräckning under dagen.

För hjälp med på- och avklädning, träning, förflyttning, handräckning och fritidsaktiviteter som ett annat personligt behov överväger Försäkringskassan att bevilja sammanlagt 16 timmar och 58 minuter per vecka.

Based on the sources I've consulted, handräckning means "assistance", "giving a helping hand", etc.

But this seems too vague for the above contexts, where handräckning is one item on a list of specific, concrete tasks.

What is the writer of this text getting at with handräckning?

Thanks for any assistance

 

[Segorian]

Based on the sources I've consulted, handräckning means "assistance", "giving a helping hand", etc.

Yes, that's what the word means, generally speaking. In the specific context of disability assistance it refers narrowly to help with daily activities within the home: help to sit up in bed, lift or carry objects, fetch or hold things, etc. Other types of assistance, such as help with cooking, going for walks, using public transport, or participating in hobbies, do not count as handräckning.

 

[Gavril]

Yes, that's what the word means, generally speaking. In the specific context of disability assistance it refers narrowly to help with daily activities within the home: help to sit up in bed, lift or carry objects, fetch or hold things, etc. Other types of assistance, such as help with cooking, going for walks, using public transport, or participating in hobbies, do not count as handräckning.

Takk, S.!

Would it be accurate to say that handräckning, in this context, refers to assistance with tasks that don't otherwise have a specific category of their own (as tasks like transportation, exercise, etc. do)?
Or am I missing the mark?

G.

 

[Segorian]

Would it be accurate to say that handräckning, in this context, refers to assistance with tasks that don't otherwise have a specific category of their own (as tasks like transportation, exercise, etc. do)?

That seems like a reasonable interpretation.

 

[Gavril]

Before I posted this question on WR, I sent another Swedish speaker a question about this use of handräckning, and I just now got a response, which I thought was worth sharing here:

In the world of assistansersättning at Försäkringskassan, handräckning means something like ”the action of helping someone by acting as their hands.”
If a person for some reason can’t use his or her hands, or for some reason cannot reach things when they are placed on a shelf for example, they need help with handräckning.
The person who needs help might say “Can you hand me the shampoo” [...] because he or she is not capable of doing so by themselves.

(assistansersättning = "assistance allowance", a type of disability benefit)

This seems like a rather challengingly specific term to translate into English (at least with a single word or short phrase).

Then again, I'm not an expert in how disability benefits work, even in my own country. Maybe the agencies in the US/UK/etc. have terms that are roughly comparable to handräckning.

 

[Segorian]

In the world of assistansersättning at Försäkringskassan, handräckning means something like ”the action of helping someone by acting as their hands.”
If a person for some reason can’t use his or her hands, or for some reason cannot reach things when they are placed on a shelf for example, they need help with handräckning.

Yes, perhaps that is the only correct interpretation. However, I have seen the word used to refer to help with slightly heavier tasks, such as helping a person out of bed, and also duties such as ensuring that a specific schedule is adhered to, so maybe this varies.

A definition is difficult to find, but I found this, which includes three things under Handräckning och andra förflyttningar: Adjusting one's posture; Moving around within the home; Fetching objects. Presumably only the last one is the actual handräckning.