Service concept for welfare and health promotion
The national welfare and health services concept guides development in wellbeing services counties
Under the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland (RRP), all wellbeing services counties (including the City of Helsinki) will develop and introduce evidence-based practices that support multidisciplinary welfare and health work and a digital service platform in 2022–2025.
The objective of the development is that residents and professionals can easily find services that promote welfare, work ability and functional capacity, resilience, health and inclusion. Development also creates preconditions for multidisciplinary client guidance and case management.
The national definition of the welfare and health service concept has been compiled in the THL publication, which guides the development work carried out in the wellbeing services counties. The wellbeing services counties, national project actors as well as municipalities and organisations participated in the definition. An open comment round was also carried out, and nearly 200 responses were received.
THL’s networks support peer development
THL provides development support for regional projects, for example in the form of networks. The national network of developers of the welfare and health service concept is summoned monthly. Read more about other THL networks (in Finnish).
THL coordinates national project work and regional support in cooperation with DigiFinland Oy and the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
Multidisciplinary client guidance and case management secures smooth service paths
The evidence-based practices developed by the wellbeing services counties support multidisciplinary client guidance and case management. Multidisciplinarity means that professionals of social welfare and health care services may refer their clients not only to social welfare and health care services but also to the services offered by municipalities and organisations.
Municipalities and organisations produce a wide range of activities that support welfare and health, such as sports, nature and cultural services.
Tools that support multidisciplinary client guidance and case management include (THL 2024):
- a digital service platform that compiles data on services that support welfare, inclusion and functional capacity in the region. The wellbeing services counties are obliged to introduce the digital service platform during the project period of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland.
- tools for assessing welfare for mapping clients’ welfare
- referral practices (e.g., sports and cultural referrals)
- practices that lower the threshold for participating in activities promoting welfare (e.g., support person activities and financial support for participation)
Wellbeing services counties also organise training for social welfare and health care professionals to ensure competence in welfare and health promotion.
In the future, information on welfare and health services will be available in one online service
During the project period, each wellbeing services county will introduce a digital service platform that compiles data on the county’s welfare and health promotion services. Service platform refers to an online service where residents and professionals may search for sports, nature and cultural services provided by municipalities, organisations and wellbeing services counties.
Wellbeing services counties can introduce the Tarmoa online service developed by DigiFinland Oy or develop their own digital service platform. The welfare and health service concept supports wellbeing services counties in the development of the digital service platform by describing its key content. The service data will be imported to the service platforms from the Suomi.fi Finnish Service Catalogue and possibly from other aggregation services.
The content of the service platform takes into account the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’ overall welfare and health promotion architecture, the starting point of which is a model describing the welfare aspects of the Stiglitz Commission.
- Read more on the about the development of the Tarmoa online service (DigiFinland Oy)
- Read more about the Finnish Service Catalogue (Digital and Population Data Services Agency, in Finnish)
Contact details
Pia Hakamäki
Project Manager
National service concept for welfare and health promotion (RRP)
[email protected]
Reetta Nick
Specialist
National service concept for welfare and health promotion (RRP)
[email protected]
Emilia Kollander
Senior Planning Officer
National service concept for welfare and health promotion (RRP)
[email protected]
