Press release by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
New quality recommendation and horizontal programme on ageing to support good health and functional capacity of older people

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities have issued a new quality recommendation to guarantee a good quality of life and improved services for older people in 2020–2023. The new recommendation will replace the earlier versions. 

At the same time, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will publish a horizontal programme on ageing that helps to prepare for the social effects of the ageing population in the longer term.  The programme was prepared jointly by different ministries, municipalities, third sector organisations and other actors.

The thematic areas that both the quality recommendation and the programme on ageing aim to promote are similar. They deal with guaranteeing the functional capacity of older people, utilising technologies to improve the wellbeing of older people, strengthening the role of voluntary work, increasing the age-friendliness of housing and living environments, and providing customer-oriented services. 

The quality recommendation gives recommendations for each of these thematic areas and highlights good practices in each area to support the implementation of the recommendations. The programme on ageing, in turn, includes a development project or a set of measures for each thematic area which will be implemented during the present government term. Based on the results and experiences gained from them, a government resolution will be prepared by the end of this term to provide guidelines for the development work until 2030.

Both the new quality recommendation and the programme on ageing strive to guarantee as high a functional capacity as possible for older people and to build an economically and socially sustainable service system. 

Technologies can be used in services for older people to support the self-management of health and the work of family caregivers and as part of the personnel’s work tasks and administrative and organisational duties. The starting point is to support and strengthen older people’s right to self-determination and their own initiative, to improve services and to develop and strengthen the work of the personnel.

Efforts will be made to further strengthen the social significance of voluntary work in the future. The aim is for the public sector to recognise and enable voluntary work in a way that benefits society, volunteers and those receiving care and assistance from volunteers. 

Age-friendly operating models will combine housing and services in a new way. The aim is to offer the older population better chances of living at home, to anticipate future housing and service needs and to ensure high-quality care and a comfortable environment for those who need care around the clock. 

Inquiries

Satu Karppanen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 295 163 549, [email protected]
Anna Haverinen, Senior Adviser, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, tel. +358 9 771 2364, [email protected]