We are not facing a care crisis but a care transition.

 

Demos Helsinki gathered 18 partners, all with critical positions in Finnish society, to craft a vision for the future of care. Together, we have been identifying how an anticipated care transition can shape the production and organisation of care. Our end goal is simple yet profound: to ensure high-quality care for everyone.

 

The discourse on care has long been confined to specific concerns such as the quality of existing systems, resource allocation, and requisite skills. This has been exacerbated by the experiences of many citizens, which show that “care is in crisis“, for example:

 

• Elderly people are increasingly lonely
• Sick people are not able to stay in hospitals
• Medical staff are quitting due to bad work conditions
• Mental health is in decline
• People may live longer, but they are also sick for longer

 

Thinking about these experiences as a crisis perpetuates the misleading idea that there are funding shortfalls or inefficiencies in our social and health systems.

 

How we care for each other is not an issue of healthcare budgets. It is an issue of long-term, multi-sectoral change comparable to digitalisation and decarbonisation. Every aspect of our society, from urban policy to work-life balance, affects how are able to provide and receive care.

 

This project seeks to show that there is no amount of money that can revert the current state of affairs. Instead, the care transition requires that we transform, disrupt and renew almost everything that we do — from making sense of what “care” is (i.e., defining a new logic of care) to creating sectorial strategies for providing it.

 

Our methodology

Our approach involves a literature review and a series of workshops between the 18 partners. Subsequent collaboration with individual partners will extend throughout the spring. The partners are highly relevant actors in their respective fields with the potential to transform how care is understood and delivered.

 

We are extremely proud to collaborate with a diverse array of partners on this:

– Hyvinvointiala Hali ry: Association advancing the interests of private care providers
– Kehitysvammaisten palvelusäätiö: Foundation that promotes the interests of and provides services for people with an intellectual disability
– KVPS Tukena: Company producing services for people with an intellectual disability
– Autismisäätiö: Foundation supporting people with autism
– Espoon kaupunki: The city of Espoo
– Mielenterveysomaisten keskusjärjestö FinFami ry: Association supporting families of people with mental illness
– Helsingin diakonissalaitos: Non-profit providing services people at risk of social exclusion
– HDL Rinnekodit: Company producing health and social services, part of the Deaconess Foundation
– HelsinkiMissio: Social organisation offering services reducing loneliness in Finland
– Kela: Finnish social security service
– Kulttuuri ja taide ry: Central organization for associations in the Finnish arts and culture industry
– Kuntaliitto: Association advancing the interests of Finnish cities, municipalities and regions
– Omaishoitalajiitto ry: Advocacy and support association for carers
– Syöpäjärjestöt: Society of regional cancer societies and national patient organizations, promoting health and cancer prevention and maintaining the Finnish Cancer Registry
– Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland
– Vaasan ammattikorkeakoulu: Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
– Vates-säätiö: Expert organization for the equal employment of people with disabilities, long-term illnesses and people with partial work capacity
– Museoliitto: Association providing services for Finnish museums and museum professionals

 

We will start publishing the results of this project in February 2024. You can get a sneak peek or learn more about the project by contacting:

Julia Jousilahti
Project Lead | Senior Expert, Demos Helsinki
julia.jousilahti@demoshelsinki.fi
+358407224931

 

 

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Feature Image: AMONT/iStock.