Family centres and meeting place activities established in wellbeing services areas – assessing effectiveness is the next step
Family centres and meeting place activities have become established in Finland’s wellbeing services areas and are now more closely linked to goals for the wellbeing of children, young people and families. The next phase of development is to assess whether service integration leads to more timely services for families with children and how it strengthens effectiveness, according to a recent report by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
There are 169 operational family centres in Finland. According to the report, the service network of family centres in 18 wellbeing services areas covers the entire area. In four areas, the network will be further expanded in the coming years.
– The number of family centres has mainly increased in the monitoring rounds of 2019, 2021 and 2024, during which we have compiled situational information on family centres, meeting places and development work in wellbeing services areas, say Development Managers Sanna Nieminen and Hanne Kalmari from THL.
Regional differences in service entities
The report shows that nearly all wellbeing services areas have defined the services included in the family centre service entity. However, there are regional differences and shifts in emphasis.
– Previously, preventive maternity and child health clinic services were part of the core services of family centres. Now, social services for families with children have been strengthened, while the role of these clinic services as core services has been reduced. Family centres should continue to strengthen the integration of social and health care services as well as cooperation with municipal education services, NGOs, parishes and other actors, Nieminen emphasises.
Meeting place activities are increasingly seen in wellbeing services areas as a key form of preventive and early support for families with children. Areas have strengthened coordination among actors, partnerships, peer development and shared operating principles.
Multi-actor collaboration strengthened in strategic management
Family centres coordinate social and health care services for children, young people and families and enhance cooperation with municipalities, NGOs and parishes. According to the report, multi-actor collaboration has deepened especially in the strategic management of family centre activities. Family centre and meeting place activities have also become more strongly embedded in the strategic plans of wellbeing services areas and in their wellbeing goals for children, young people and families. This indicates that family centres have become an established part of their operations.
– Jointly set objectives ensure that the management of family centres does not become limited to managing service entities and operations alone. They bring the key issue to the forefront – the management of health and wellbeing for children, young people and families, says Kalmari.
Systematic evaluation is developing
Wellbeing services areas are monitoring family centre and meeting place activities increasingly systematically, and the use of indicators has grown compared to the previous report. Currently, 13 wellbeing services areas regularly collect indicator data on family centre activities and nine on meeting place activities. Both national indicators and region-specific statistical and evaluation indicators are used.
– The aim of family centres is to strengthen the effectiveness of services through integration. The same objective guided the health and social services reform. The next step is to assess whether family centres are delivering improved effectiveness and whether the wellbeing of children, young people and families is improving, Kalmari concludes.
Publication (in Finnish) Perhekeskus- ja kohtaamispaikkatoiminta vakiinnuttanut asemansa Suomessa
Further information
Sanna Nieminen
Development Manager
Tel. +358 29 524 7355
[email protected]