A study compared a sample of Swedish people older than 75 who needed in-home assistance with a similar sample of Israel people  The people in the two samples received both informal assistance, provided by family and friends, and formal assistance, professionally provided
Although Sweden and Israel have equally well-funded and comprehensive systems for providing formal assistance, the study found that the people in the Swedish sample received more formal assistance, on average, than those in the Israeli sample
A companion study found that among children needing special in-home care , the amount of formal assistance they received was roughly the same in Sweden as in Israel.