Wellbeing services counties have a lot of unused information about the effectiveness of social services
Influencing is Professor of Practice Minna Kivipelto’s forte, which she has carried along from one job to another.
She adopted the influencer’s role by the time she was working at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), from where she moved to JYU two years ago to become a Professor of Practice in Social Work.
Kivipelto believes that the decisive thing in influencing efforts is how you verbalise the issues at hand. Networks are the cornerstone of influencing. During her years at THL, she managed to establish good connections with policy-makers at different levels.
And as we know, an expert can use knowledge to influence many instances: the management of wellbeing services counties, political decision-makers or leading civil servants,” says Kivipelto about her methods.
Recently, the Huoltaja Foundation awarded Kivipelto the Social Work Influencer Prize. Her merits include extensive experience and a proven ability to propose measures that improve services for the most vulnerable.
Concerns about extensive cutbacks and lack of attention to social services
Right now, Kivipelto’s advocacy efforts are focused on fighting against extensive cutbacks targeted at the services and benefits for people in a poor economic situation. Another concern is that discussions on social and health care do not address social services, instead the focus tends to be on health care services, care arrangements and practical care-related priorities – and often also on lay-offs and threats of dismantling the current systems, Kivipelto points out.
The Government has already made cuts to housing benefits, unemployment benefits and income support, and an overall reform for income support is still forthcoming.
“After this, according The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, families remaining below the poverty line will include almost 30,000 more children than before the cutbacks in social security benefits."
The poor socioeconomic situation is reflected on every aspect of family life, limiting, for example, children’s and adolescents’ free-time activities and opportunities to pursue hobbies. Low-income households may even lack adequate nutrition for children. All this increases the risk of exclusion,” Kivipelto continues.
Cutting social services does not reduce social and health care expenses
The latest threat pertains to the reform of social care services. The reform aims to save 50 million euros from state funding for wellbeing services counties in 2027 and 100 million annually from 2028 onwards. The report with proposals of the committee appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is expected shortly.
“The reform aims to make services more flexible and client-oriented. It is also promised that regional characteristics will be taken into account in the service reform. There is no guarantee that these measures will reduce social care costs,” Kivipelto says.
“If we instead invested more strongly in effectiveness evaluation of social services, we could gain information on how to prevent health problems and curb the rise in health care costs,” Kivipelto states.
Research to investigate the connection between social services and health costs
This point of view encompasses the main focus of Kivipelto’s research at the moment.
In an ongoing research project, Kivipelto and her team are seeking further evidence of the effectiveness of social services. In a key role here are client data that wellbeing services counties have collected on social work and social services.
“We hope to obtain data, for example, on the connections between the usage of social services and health care services. We are examining, among other things, whether social work clients who have received social assistance have been referred to health care services,” says Minna Kivipelto about their aims.
So far, data collected in service systems have been scarcely used:
“The records contain plenty of data on social services that could already be utilised in effectiveness research. In practice, these data have not yet been tapped. Wellbeing services counties could make much greater use of these data,” she states.
“The benefits of the integration of social and health care services are being overlooked”
Minna Kivipelto reminds us that the wellbeing services counties were established with an emphasis on the benefits of the integration of social and health care services.
However, the role and effectiveness of social services have received very little attention. By making broader use of social services, we could improve the living conditions of families with children, for example, and thus protect children’s future. The services would improve the management of daily life.
“The support services mentioned in the Social Welfare Act should be taken into use more widely."
Where needed, the organised support services should include meals on wheels services, clothing care services, cleaning services, errand-running services, and services that support participation and social interaction. These could help prevent, for example, overload and burnout in families with children,” Kivipelto continues.
Services that support the management of daily life could help prevent situations from worsening if support were provided in time and directly at home.
"Health is associated with social factors that can help reduce health care costs in the longer term,” Kivipelto says, also emphasising international recommendations regarding the significance of social determinants for health.
Discussion that respects everybody is lacking
At present, Minna Kivipelto is also concerned about the lack of faith in social services.
“Social services are a safety net that sustains Finnish society. It seems to have been forgotten how many people benefit from it. We must have the energy to provide knowledge that demonstrates the significance of social services.”
The domestic discussion culture has also deteriorated considerably.
“We now lack respectful discussion, where all people would be accepted and appreciated. The present discussion culture is not constructive. This change feels particularly troubling from the perspective of children and youth,” Kivipelto laments.
As people discuss the reforms of social and health care and the organisation of services, Professor of Practice Kivipelto advises that attention be paid to viewpoints concerning social services:
1. Drawing on client data in order to evaluate effectiveness
Wellbeing services counties have a huge amount of client data, and analysing these would provide new information about the effectiveness of social services, for example, for the use of the counties and research.
2. Bringing partnerships to the fore to secure social services
In wellbeing services counties,social services are often successfully organised through cooperation between public agencies, private enterprises and NGOs. The accomplishments of these partnerships must be highlighted more effectively than at present.
3. Adding parliamentary efforts to secure our welfare state
The reforms of social and health care,and solving the problems related to financing wellbeing services counties call for parliamentary work that extends beyond individual electoral terms.
4. Cancelling cutbacks affecting people with low income
If we wish to prevent the economic depression from leading to transgenerational disadvantage, it is necessary to cancel the cutbacks made to social security for the poor. The measures that should be cancelled include the removal of the protected income component for labour market support, tightening the terms for income support, and cuts made to unemployment benefits, for example.
INFO BOX: Minna Kivipelto |
|
| EDUCATION |
|
| WORK: |
|
| CAREER: |
|
