Minna Kivipelto
Job title: Leading Reserarcher
Tel: +358 29 524 7760
Email: [email protected]
Expertise
- Social work in wellbeing services counties
- Social assistance among clients in adult social work
- Social work effectiveness
- Economic, housing and mental health vulnerability among adult social work clients
Primary duties
- Social work and social services in social- and healthcare integration
- Social assistance and adult social work
- Effectiveness evaluation in social work
- Connections between social work, services, and benefits
Education
- Adjunct Professor: Effectiveness Evaluation in Social Work, University of Turku
- Adjunct Professor: Effectiveness Evaluation in Social Work, University of Eastern Finland
- PhD, Social Work, Tampere University
- Professional teacher education, Jamk University of Applied Sciences
- Specialization Training for Family Counselling, (Act 804/92), Oulu Family Counselling Office
Work experience
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Research Manager, 2010–
- Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Senior Lecturer, 1999-2010
- Stakes, Researcher, 2000
- Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Lecturer, 1995-1999
- Municipalities of Sotkamo, Kajaani and Oulu, Social Worker, 1991-1993
Language skills
- Finnish (native)
- Swedish (good)
- English (excellent)
Current projects
- Social Assistance, Services, and Benefits in Social and Healthcare Integration (in Finnish)
- Does Social Work Reduce the Use of Social Assistance?
Previous projects
- The Impact of Adult Social Work Methods - AIKUMETOD (in Finnish)
- Migration and Social Policy as a Modifier of Population Structure and Social Problems in Suburban Areas (in Finnish)
- The Social Effects of the Coronavirus Epidemic on the Most Vulnerable Clients and Their Services
- The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on gender equality in Finland
- National Development Programme for Social Services: Client Service Plan -Pilot in Adult Social Work (in Finnish)
Professional memberships
- Advisory Board of Public Health, Member of the Secretary, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2020–2021
- The House of Effectiveness, Steering Group Member, University of Eastern Finland, 2020–
- Corona in the Margins of Society (KoMa), chairman of the steering group, 2021–
- Structural Social Work Project (Sosrake), Steering Group Member, Eastern Finland Social Welfare Expertise Center, 2020–2022
- Huoltaja Foundation, Board Member, 2017–
- European Social Network (ESN), Member of the National Coalition, 2012–
Publications and research
Dissertation
Kivipelto, Minna (2006) Sosiaalityön kriittinen arviointi. Sosiaalityön kriittisen arvioinnin perustelut, teoriat ja menetelmät. [Critical Evaluation in Social Work. Justifications, theories, and methods for Critical Evaluation in Social Work]. Publications of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences A3. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Tampere.
Peer-reviewed articles
- Jokela, Merita & Kivipelto, Minna & Ylikännö, Minna (2022) Social assistance beneficiaries’ access to social services in a digitalised and centralised social assistance system. Sozialer Fortschritt 71 (2022), 385–404.
- Mesiäislehto, Merita & Kivipelto, Minna & Hiilamo, Heikki (2021) Social workers’ perceptions on clients’ service needs and social work practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Comparative Social Work 16 (2), 9‒35.
- Kivipelto, Minna & Kotiranta, Tuija & Kazi, Mansoor A. F. & Borg, Pekka & Jauhiainen, Tuula & Korteniemi, Pertti (2016) An Evaluation Model for Social Work with Substance Abusers. Open Science Journal 1 (3), 1–16.
- Kivipelto, Minna & Blomgren, Sanna & Saikkonen & Paula Karjalainen, Pekka (2015) Web-based tool for social work effectiveness evaluation. Social Work Review XIV (3), 19–31.
- Kivipelto, Minna & Yliruka, Laura (2012) Mirror method as an approach for critical evaluation in social work. Critical Social Work 13 (2), 101–118.
Book chapters
- Kivipelto, Minna & Jokela, Merita & Blomgren, Sanna & Perlinski, Marek (2019) Social sustainability and the organization of social work from the perspective of Finnish adult social work practitioners. In Sakari Hänninen, Kirsi-Marja Lehtelä and Paula Saikkonen (eds.) The Relational Nordic Welfare State - Between Utopia and Ideology, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 184–201.
International presentations
- Kivipelto, M. Reading the mechanisms in realist single-case evaluation. Presentation in the workshop: ´Improving efficiency and generating results: The role of evaluation and evaluation tools´, the European Evaluation Society 14th Biennal Conference. 9.6.2022. Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Jokela, M., & Kivipelto, M. ´Participatory approach to adult social work: Lessons from the Finnish inclusive social security experiment´. THL. 20.3.2019. Viaa UAS, Netherlands.
- Kivipelto, M., & Jokela, M. ´Participatory approach to adult social work: Lessons from the Finnish Inclusive Social Security experiment´. Nor¬dic So¬cial Work Conference, Workshop number 9, Power and user involvement in social work: Perspectives and challenges. 22.11.2018. The University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Jokela, M., Kivipelto, M., & Ylikännö, M. ´Incomeless persons, social assistance receipt, and access to social services´. Presentation in session no. 7, “Passion for equality: Mechanism of inequality and challenges for the Nordic welfare model.” Nordic Welfare Research Conference. 14.3.2019. Helsinki, Finland.
- Kivipelto, M., & Jokela, M. ´Measuring effectiveness in the experiment of inclusive social security´. The 13th European Evaluation Society Biennial Conference, Poster Presentation, 1–5.10.2018. Thessaloniki, Greece.
- Kivipelto, M. ´Measuring social work effectiveness by using the KEY-measure´. Keynote speaker. Decisions, Outcome, and Change Nordic FORSA/NOUSA Conference 2016. 9.11.2016. Metropolitan University College Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Kivipelto, M. ´Measuring social work effectiveness by using the KEY-measure´. Plenary speaker, FORSA. 9.11.2016. Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Kivipelto, M. ´Realist evaluation integrated into the social work client database system´. Workshop presentation. European Evaluation Society Biennal Conference. 29.9.2016. Maastricht, Netherlands.
- Kivipelto, M., & Saikkonen, P. ´Exploring a measure for evaluating the effectiveness of social work intervention in adults´. The 2nd Joint Conference Courage in Social Work. Workshop presentation: Innovative Practices and Practice Research. 11.6.2015. Arcada UAS, Helsinki, Finland.
