MEETING SOCIAL NEEDS IN AN AGEING SOCIETY

Multidisciplinary European Programme

Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences

HEALTH ASPECTSIN AGEING FINLAND

HEALTH ASPECTS IN AGEING In finnish public health-law it says that

municipalities must organize to all who get retirement pension, consultation service that improves their welfare, health and ability to function

In these consultation services includes:-Promotion of healthy way of living and preventing of

maladies and accidents-Early recognition and support of decline in

health and ability to function of ageing inhabitant of the muncipality

-Instructions in relation to health care and safe medication

HEALTH ASPECTS IN AGEING

• The constitution of Finland says that government officials must guarantee fulfilment of civil- and human rights, such as rights to equality and to essential solicitude

• In 2001 Ministry of social affairs and health gave together with alliance of municipalities quality guidelines in relation to ageing inhabitants care and services

• Quality guidelines support the municipalities and co-operation districts to develop elderly persons’ services and resources from local needs, together with third sector, private service providers and with customers, their relatives and other members of municipality

HEALTH CASE STUDY

• Altough Finnish municipalities are required to take care of it´s ageing and elderly population, the municipalities are struggling budgetwise, and the fact that Finland is large and sparsely inhabited, does not help the situation

• Great age groups are getting older, and that is encumbering Finnish health care

• Preventative methods are the best way to make sure that the increasing amount of ageing people´s ability to function is preserved

KOLARI MUNCIPALITY’S EXAMPLE OF PREVENTATIVE METHOD

• Kolari is small muncipality in West-Lapland in Finland

• 3800 inhabitants

• Main field of business is turism

KOLARI MUNCIPALITY’S EXAMPLE OF PREVENTATIVE METHOD

• Elderly persons health checks:– -Carried out by a public health nurse

-Every fall they call every one who are 65, 70, 80 and 90 years old to health checks

-They check out their basic vital funtions, take blood tests, test memory and inspects their basic ability to funtion

-Every year few persons are caught for example with high bloodsugar, high bloodpressure or cholesterol

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGEING

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGEING

Aged persons social network is composed by: Group of family members Friends Relatives Members of work community In wide range all the persons, who they meet in

formal and informal organizations

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF AGEING

• Motor functions, cognitive readiness and sensibility to take contact with others changes when ageing

• Social networks are also wearn down by deaths, people ending up in institutions and changes in their residence

• At aged persons’ life there is gradual decomposition of social relationships

SOCIAL CASE STUDY• In Finland many of aged persons live alone or with

their spouse or at nursing home

• Adult children don´t have time, opportunity or will to take care of their elderly parents

• This leads to a situation, where the elderly persons don´t see their children or grandchildren so often

• Aged who still live at home, can often be very lonely

FINNISH RED CROSS: FRIEND- SERVICE, YSTÄVÄ-PALVELU

• Finnish Red Cross have recruited over 10 000 volunteers to a "Friend-service, Ystävä-palvelu“

• Volunteers are friends with lonely persons in all ages and social classes

FINNISH RED CROSS: FRIEND- SERVICE, YSTÄVÄ-PALVELU

• Volunteers can spend time with elderly from few hours a month to weekly visits, anyway the volunteer feels like and has time

• Volunteer must take part to a two day course, where they get information and skills to be "good friends"

ECONOMIC ASPECTS -History -Finland's first industrialization era coincided with a

liberalism breakthrough in 1857 the establishment of steam sawmills and saw was allowed.

-The country's economy was marked by recovery from The Second World War to the early 1950s.

-Finnish society's challenges were the 420 000 transfers of Karelian settlement, war reparations and large generation borned after war years.

- Foreign loans raised to great importance on getting

economy on its feet.

ECONOMIC ASPECTSHISTORY The banking crisis and the collapse of trade with the

East ended badly. In 1994, Finland's unemployment rate was 21%.

Finland joined the European Union in 1995 and the European Economic and Monetary Union in 1998, which has had a major impact on Finland's industrial development.

In the early 2000s the share price declined since the spring of 2000 and there was a investment recession.

Year 2003 USA's economy begins to recover again which causes that the other countries including Finland starts to recover as well and world economy is growing faster than since the beginning of 1970s.

ECONOMIC ASPECTSThe structure of Finnish economy

.The structure of Finnish economy is the same as the typical West European industrial countries.

. The share of services is more than two thirds of production.

. Share of primary production is small and share of manufacturing is decreasing, but it's still important for exports.

.Foreign trade is also important to Finland's small open economy.

Finland belongs to European economic alliance and uses euro as its currency.

ECONOMIC ASPECTSTHE STRUCTURE OF FINNISH ECONOMY

The Finnish economy is mixed economy. Most of the commodity market is free

market, but still authorities have involved substantial part of service production.

.Finland is ranked 8th out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is well above the world average.

.Like other Nordic countries,tax of GDP ratio is high, 43% in 2009

ECONOMIC CASE STUDY• The Finnish Innovation Fund- Sitra, hosted a

project called: Seniori-Suomi, Senior-Finland

• According to projects report, heaving of employment rates and extendening of working age are focal points in the future when enduracing public finance and making sure that we will have working social- and health services

• Taking notice to efficiency of resourcing and allocation of the resources is vital

ECONOMIC CASE STUDY• It is possible to develop productivity of different

operations by increasing staffs standard of education and by increasing the quality of management and service process

• Writers of the report are regarding that the most important goal is increasing aged person’s health, activity and living conditions, which requires well working social and health service organism

ECONOMIC CASE STUDY• Researchers believe that it is possible to

manage the increasing pressure of health and social services expenses

• This demands propitious financial development, reasonable price development in health and social services and maintaining of aged health and ability to function so, that especially institutionalization postdates

AGEING IN RELATION WITH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CSR means that company’s activities should

be ethically right and company should carry all the consequences to those that are affected by company’s actions in any way

The people that are affected by companies actions are called stakeholders.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Mandatory and Voluntary social responsibility.

Mandatory social responsibility is regulated by laws.

Voluntary social responsibility includes all voluntary actions corporations take, that benefit society in any way.

HOW DOES AGEING AFFECT CSR? As the generations change values that are

respected by people will change

General public will not be satisfied by same level of investment in social responsibility than before and companies will have harder time proofing that their social responsibility programs are not just diversions to distract general public from their more shady business models.

AGEING IN RELATION WITH HR AND LABOR

HUMAN RESOURCES AND LABOR Human resources include all the company’s

personnel that are available for use.

Other terms used synonymously with human resources, some of these are labor, human capital, workforce and manpower.

HOW DOES AGEING AFFECT HR AND LABOR? Skilled senior workers retire Labor markets grows more narrow Higher chance for long sick leaves Healthcare expenses increase

Further increase trough hiring Fill-ins for employees on long sick leaves

Age Racism in employement and workplace

AGEING IN RELATION WITH PUBLIC FINANCE

AGEING IN RELATION WITH PUBLIC FINANCE

The effects that ageing has on public finance: the growth of expenses and the decreasing tax incomes

Ageing population will create more need of health and social services

An effect in availability of labor and the human capital

FINNISH PENSION SCHEME Earnings-related pension

earned by paid work and entrepreneurship

National pension For people who don’t have the earnings-related

pension or it is low financed by tax revenue

Both of these pension schemes include old-age pension and disability pension

The official retirement age is 65 years

FINNISH PENSION SCHEME Possibility to

get antedated old-age pension delay the old-age pension

Part time pension combines work and retiring improves people’s coping at work by lightening

the amount of work at the end of career

AGEING IN RELATION WITH HEALTH

According to the population forecast :

in the year 2030 every fourth person of the Finnish people is over 65 years old.

In the year 2060 29 % of Finnish people is over 65 years old.

Finnish health has improved in the last century.

The biggest causes of premature death are:

cardiovascular diseases cancers accidents Suicides chronic lung diseases

From the point of population health and ability

to function important diseases are:

musculo-skeletal diseases mental health problems infectious diseases allergies diabetes

The lifetime prognosis of men who are higher educated and belong to the upper social groups is about six years longer than men with less education and belong to lower social group.

Same difference with women is about three years.

NEWBORNS LIFETIME PROGNOSIS IN FINLAND YEARS 1751-2010

Promotion of health is needed to prevent social and areal inequality.

Increase in social and areal inequality will lead to the expansion of health differences and the deteriorating of health and welfare of the population.

The biggest threats to the public health are the generalization of

diseases and other health problems, growth of getting sick and the need for help due to the

aging of population age structure.

Finding the solution to these problems is the biggest challenge for the Finnish

health care in the years to come.

AGEING IN RELATION WITH SOCIAL WORK Finnish service system for elderly people is

rather wide-ranging and multidimensional

Municipalities are responsible for organizing these services

Institutional care; a place in a retirement home or in a health center

Home care; helps the customer with daily chores and personal actions like personal hygiene

AGEING IN RELATION WITH SOCIAL WORK

Provided by municipalities

Support service; cleaning, bathing, transport services and taking meals to customer’s home

Home health care; includes medical actions ordered by a doctor, taking samples and following the customer’s health

Housing service; granting a compensation for apartment’s adjustment work

ACTIVE AGEING WHO defines that active ageing is a process

that means that physical, mental and social welfare are added into elderly peoples life.

The goal is to make longer and healthier lifetime and also to add productivity and quality of life.

Active ageing means that we offer the possibility to live independent life to elderly people.

Active ageing strives that elderly people are active player in society and live rewarding, happy and healthy life.

Functional capacity Means how person can manage in everyday routines Good functional capacity requires motivation and self-

esteem We can add functional capacity with

good planned environment good planned public transport information technology

Finnish University of Lapland has a project where they develop tools to help elderly people in their everyday life. For example tools that help to do snow works.

The maintenance of working capacity It’s usually similar in all age groups. elderly people usually have more special needs which

have to notice when the maintenance of working capacity is planned.

Activities that are aimed to increase elderly peoples work capacity includes work community working conditions protect and add person’s individual resources which are

focused in health and functional capacity

Hobbies and volunteer activity Hobbies add mental functional capacity and

satisfaction to life Hobbies also bring pleasure and welfare It also maintains cognitive skills and social

relationships In Finland the public services arrange activities for

elderly people for example physical exercise and handicraft clubs.

we also have organizations which offer a possibility to do voluntary work for elderly people. They arrange trips and give support to each other.

Physical exercise is very important for elderly people because it adds functional capacity and brings more years for life.

For example we have Finnish company called Lappset that produces playground equipment to different age groups. Lappset has designed a series of fitness equipment specially for the elderly.

The purpose of the Senior Sport outdoor fitness equipment is to facilitate and enrich the everyday lives of senior citizens through outdoor exercise and the physical fitness and good feeling that this produces

Life-long learning adds physical, mental and social welfare gives possibility to involve activities in society studies are meaningful way to elderly people spend

free time For example in Helsinki we have university for

elderly people. It’s open for all elderly people regardless of previous education. University is destined people how are in retirement age and over it. University’s goal is to offer studies that lead to spiritual growth and add active ageing and welfare in society.

Social life Good social relationships work as resources and also

promote health, welfare and functional capacity