Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso

The Finns Party

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso is responsible for all other matters covered by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, apart from those that are the responsibility of Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen and Minister of Employment Arto Satonen. This means that Juuso is responsible for all matters (excluding social assistance) covered by the Department for Steering of Healthcare and Social Welfare, the Department for Communities and Functional Capacity and the Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare. In addition, she is responsible for matters covered by the Ministry’s separate units.

Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso is responsible for the following matters

Content of healthcare and social welfare services

• client and patient safety 
• wellbeing, inclusion promotion and social exclusion of children and young people
• Council for Choices in Health Care in Finland
• quality, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of healthcare and social welfare services

Healthcare and social welfare service system 

• guidance concerning the activities of wellbeing services counties and collaborative areas  in the field of healthcare and social welfare
• staggering of healthcare and social welfare services
• healthcare and social welfare service network

Health and social policy and promotion of health and wellbeing

• preventive health and social policy
• promotion of health and wellbeing
• suicide prevention
• public health, incl. nutrition and physical activity
• coordination of government Roma and disability policies

Social services

• social welfare and social services
  • services for older people
  • social services for families with children, such as child and family counselling services, social work for families, family work
  • child welfare
  • mental health, substance abuse and addiction services
  • social lending
  • services for working-age people, such as adult social work, rehabilitative work facilities, social rehabilitation, activities supporting the employment of people with disabilities and work facilities for people with disabilities
  • services for people with disabilities, including interpretation services
• emergency social services
• state reform schools

Health services

• prehospital emergency medical services (however, reimbursement of travel costs for emergency medical services falls under the responsibility of Minister Grahn-Laasonen)
• specialised healthcare
• primary healthcare
  • school and student healthcare, student welfare
  • medical rehabilitation
  • mental healthcare and substance abuse and addiction treatment
  • sexual and reproductive health
  • oral healthcare
  • services for working-age people, such as services supporting work ability
  • maternity and child health clinics
• cross-border healthcare
• terminal care
• publicly funded pharmacotherapy under the Health Care Act and related pharmaceutical services
• health centres, health and social services centres, emergency care services, hospitals 
• state mental hospitals 
• prison healthcare

General issues related to healthcare and social welfare

• development and coordination of the Ministry’s government grant activities (except for EU structural fund projects)
• services supporting the rehabilitation and living at home of front-line veterans, the Advisory Board on Veterans’ Affairs in Finland, rehabilitation of those who served in certain war-time tasks
• Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA)
• client charges in healthcare and social welfare
• processing of client data in healthcare and social welfare
• rights of clients and patients in healthcare and social welfare
• digitalisation in healthcare and social welfare
• healthcare and social welfare personnel as well as education, research, development and innovation activities in healthcare and social welfare
• guidance concerning the self-supervision and oversight of legality of healthcare and social welfare
• strategic planning and development of healthcare and social welfare
• knowledge management in healthcare and social welfare
• matters concerning the basic public services, legal rights and permit divisions of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health and the Regional State Administrative Agencies
• information management and digital security 

Each minister addresses the particular matters concerning EU and international affairs, appointments and human resources that fall within their areas of responsibility. Within their respective areas, ministers also oversee financial planning and the preparation of budgets and other matters.

Profile

Kaisa Juuso was born on 23 September 1960 in Alatornio. She has served as a Member of Parliament since 2019.

Prior to her political career, Juuso worked as a specialist in international healthcare at the international unit of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency in Sweden and as a nurse in various locations. Before her career in healthcare, Juuso worked at Local Insurance in 1997–2004 and at Veritas Pension Insurance in 1989–1997.

Juuso holds a degree in Psychiatric Nursing awarded by Lapland University of Applied Sciences in 2010. She first graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Behavioural Sciences from Stockholm University in 1986, and she also holds a Diploma in Insurance from 1994.

Juuso holds several positions of trust. She has been a member of Tornio City Council since 2013 and a member of Tornio City Executive since 2017. She also served as the Lapland District Secretary of the Finns Party in 2015 and a member of the Finns Party’s Board of Directors in 2018.

Thanks to her educational background and work experience, Juuso has a very good command of Swedish.