Institutional care and housing services in social care

Quality description

The quality description of the Institutional care and housing care and housing services in sosial care assesses the reliability and suitability of the statistics for different purposes in accordance with the quality description recommendation of the Official Statistics of Finland (OSF).

Relevance of statistical data

The Care Register for Social Welfare contains data on institutional care and housing services with 24-hour/part-time assistance for older people, people with physical or intellectual disabilities and people with mental health problems.

The data are based on discharge notifications collected from private and public residential homes for older people, sheltered housing units with 24-hour assistance for older people, institutional care and housing services with 24-hour assistance for people with intellectual disabilities, sheltered housing units with 24-hour assistance for people with severe disabilities and psychiatric patients, detoxification and rehabilitation centres operated as part of services for substance abusers. The client census data, collected on 31 December, are cross-sectional and cover also sheltered housing with part-time assistance.

In addition to data retrieved from the Care Register for Social Welfare, the statistical report also includes data retrieved from the Count of Regular Home-Care Clients on 30 November and the Care Register for Health Care. Separate quality descriptions are available for the two latter statistics.

The statistical report is aimed at municipal and private-sector service providers, municipal officials, planning officials and researchers working in the area of social welfare and health care.

The report text explains the concepts and definitions used in the statistics.
The collection of data is based on the Act on the Statistical Service of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (409/2001), as well as on section 2 of the Act on the National Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008).

Description of methods

The data on institutional care and housing services are based on discharge notifications collected from municipal and private-sector residential homes for older people, sheltered housing units with 24-hour assistance for older people, institutional care and housing services with 24-hour assistance for people with intellectual disabilities, sheltered housing units with 24-hour assistance for people with severe disabilities and psychiatric patients, detoxification and rehabilitation centres operated as part of services for substance abusers. The client census data, collected on 31 December, are cross-sectional and cover also sheltered housing with part-time assistance.

The statistical population consists of all people receiving institutional care or sheltered housing provided as social care. It does not include people living in child welfare institutions, family homes for children and young people, assignment-based family care or housing service units operated as part of services for substance abusers.

Service providers are obliged to provide THL with client census data and discharge data by the end of March the following year. The data are submitted on data collection forms or as sequential files over an encrypted connection through the Toimita online service.

Check-ups concerning correctness are conducted on the data received by THL. These check-ups are described in more detail in the data collection handbook. The data are stored electronically in the Care Register for Social Welfare. 
The statistics contain the data the service providers have submitted by 8th October 2018.

Data coverage

The statistics cover some 97 percent of the service providers. The service providers that have failed to submit data are mostly small-scale service providers.

Correctness and accuracy of data

The data are correct insofar as they have been reported correctly. Errors appear, for example, as regards service branches, start dates for care and appropriate care places. The data have also included people who no longer receive the services concerned. Where data is completely missing, this is often due to problems with reporting programmes or personnel changes at the data suppliers.

Once an error is detected in the Care Register, efforts are made to correct it in connection with the register’s normal compilation and maintenance procedures. Data suppliers themselves are usually asked to correct any errors or deficiencies detected in their data.

Timeliness and promptness of published data

The Statistical Report on Institutional Care and Housing Services in Social Care is produced annually by THL and published in October–November. Having to request resubmission of missing data slows down the compilation of the statistics and affects the publication schedule.

Availability and transparency/clarity of data

There is a separate manual on data collection: HILMO Sosiaalihuollon ja terveydenhuollon hoitoilmoitus: Määrittelyt ja ohjeistus: Voimassa 1.1.2017 lähtien (Care Registers for Social Welfare and Health Care – definitions and instructions).

Comparability of statistical data

Data for the Care Register for Social Welfare have been gathered since 1995. Although a few minor changes have been made over the years, the core data content of the register has, however, remained almost unchanged, describing service providers, clients, client admissions and discharge, and the care and services received by clients.

The data on institutions for substance abusers in the Care Register for Social Welfare differ from the data in the Sotkanet database, which are based on data on the statistics on the social service activities of municipalities maintained by Statistics Finland. The Care Register for Social Welfare only includes data on institutions operated as part of care and services for substance abusers approved by the Social Insurance Institution as institutions providing care that entitle the client to a rehabilitation allowance, and all detoxification units. In these institutions, rehabilitation is short-term and does not include long-term accommodation.

Clarity and consistency

The data on public and private institutional care and housing services in the Care Register for Social Welfare are nationwide and have as high a coverage as possible. It does not include people living in child welfare institutions, family homes for children and young people, assignment-based family care or housing service units operated as part of services for substance abusers.

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