New digital health survey streamlines health care for upper secondary students
Starting this autumn, new upper secondary students will be given a digital health survey from student health care to fill in. There are two versions of the health survey: one for students of compulsory education age and one for adult students. The survey streamlines the transition to student health care and strengthens the ability to offer the right kind of support at the right time to general upper secondary school students and students at vocational institutions.
“The survey helps the student put their need for support into words and recognise it, as well as helping student health care time and target the necessary support and services in a timely manner. However, the student can always seek student health care services on their own initiative,” says Johanna Jahnukainen, Development Manager at THL.
Using the survey requires strong authentication tools, such as online banking credentials or a mobile certificate, which many young people are using for the first time.
“Digital services and monitoring one's own health information become part of a young person's everyday life at a stage when many are also otherwise taking steps towards managing their own affairs. It is important that the young person develops ownership of their own health information and feels that they are being heard,” Jahnukainen emphasises.
A uniform model reduces overlap and increases equality
The reform introduces a unified operating model for upper secondary student health care nationwide and cuts down on overlapping practices. A key change concerns the Finnish Defence Forces' pre-call health check for conscription: the Defence Forces' separate health questionnaire will be discontinued, and the pre-call health check for conscription will be merged into the student health care examination.
This means the student fills in the necessary information in the combined survey only once, and attends a single health examination instead of two: the same information serves both the needs of student health care and conscription.
“A single shared survey reduces unnecessary duplication of work and makes the overall process clearer for the student. At the same time, it ensures that everyone's health examination and assessment of fitness for military service are carried out on the same basis, regardless of place of residence,” Jahnukainen says.
The accumulated data strengthens service development
The digital health survey for upper secondary student health care operates within the Omaolo service, and its key data is stored in the Kanta Services. This makes the information available later across various health care services, supporting continuity and smoothness of care.
When data is collected consistently from across the whole country, it can also be used to monitor students' wellbeing, identify emerging phenomena at an early stage, and develop services.
THL uses the accumulated data to develop the national steering of the service system.
More information
News item 11.6.2026: Health care for upper secondary students is being reformed – new digital health survey helps time services according to need
Video (1,25 minutes, You Tube) – Johanna Jahnukainen talks about the new digital health survey (in Finnish)
Guidance for student health care professionals (in Finnish): Opiskeluterveydenhuolto - THL
Johanna Jahnukainen
Development manager
THL
tel. 029 524 8032
[email protected]