Customer involvement
Customer involvement refers to both the internal experience and active engagement of individuals. Involvement evokes a sense of belonging to the community and society and that you can make a difference in the matters that affect you. Involvement is a key driver of well-being and health.
We want to enable our customers to participate in their own care and in the development and provision of our services. The implementation of involvement is guided by our customer involvement program, and it is monitored in our self-monitoring plan.
Here is how you can participate in your care
As a customer, you can be involved in the planning, decision-making and implementation of your care through self-management of health. We understand that you might be having a tough time, but you are always the best expert in your situation. That’s why your knowledge and actions are needed to make your care successful.
Our professionals will give you the information and support you need. We also encourage you to talk to others to get peer support. When it comes to involvement, we emphasize three focus areas: a compassionate and appreciative attitude, acquisition of knowledge, and meeting with others who have gone through the same.
Appreciate yourself and your experience. Treat yourself well and be compassionate about your situation. Treat other patients, your loved ones and professionals with dignity.
Be open and honest about your symptoms and concerns and participate actively in the conversation and treatment decisions. This will help our professionals understand your situation better. We want the best for you, and we always endeavor to give you the best possible care.
You can plan your treatment together with our professionals. Our professionals will make decisions about your treatment with you. You can also learn about your condition and the support available for it and attend patient training days and adaptation training courses. You can find out about these from the attending staff, patient organization or Kela. You can also find reliable information in the Terveyskirjasto online portal by clicking this link and in the Health Village service at this link.
You can always ask our care team what you need to do to make your treatment successful. Ask for a care plan prepared for you in writing when you go home.
Try to understand your health, diagnosis, and treatment options. This may include weighing different treatment options, asking questions, and expressing your own values and opinions. Monitor your own health and treatment effects and report them to our staff as agreed.
It is meaningful to discuss experiences with someone else with similar experiences. Hearing about what other people have experienced and sharing your own experience will help you better understand your situation. You might find new friends and acquaintances who understand your situation. We recommend peer support to both the patient and their loved ones! Follow this link to read more about peer support in the Vertaistalo hub (in Finnish) and read our patients’ experiences of treatment at HUS by following this link .
Volunteer peer supporters are there to help you in the hospital
You can get peer support from volunteers in the hospital. Depending on the condition, you can find peer support volunteers on the ward or at the OLKA service point in the lobby. Volunteers also help in other ways in the hospital. You can always turn to them; volunteers are in the hospital for you. Ask your nurse for more information about OLKA.
Peer support in the Toivo app
Sometimes when you’re in a hospital, you don’t have the energy or time to meet up with a peer supporter. In this case, look for a peer supporter using the free Toivo app. In the Toivo app, you can chat with a peer supporter anonymously. For more information about the app, please visit this link.
Peer support provided by a patient organization
If you know of a patient organization that suits your needs, we recommend that you contact them directly. If you have not found a patient organization yet, you can ask OLKA to help you find one. Follow this link to learn more about OLKA.
You can also find more information about the different organizations in the Toivo app and at Vertaistalo.fi.
Patient organization support in our hospitals
Patient organizations are present in our hospitals to support our customerss in a number of ways, including offering counseling, sending volunteers to the hospital, and running theme days at the OLKA service points.
The OLKA support center coordinates activities run by organizations and volunteers in the hospital. The OLKA activities are carried out in cooperation with the associations HyTe ry and Keski-Uudenmaan Yhdistysverkosto ry.
OLKA service points are located in the hospital lobbies. Patient associations and hospital units showcase their activities at OLKA service points. Check out the below links to learn more about the OLKA service points in different hospitals.
Our hospitals have volunteers from organizations. They are here for you when you need advice on navigating in the hospital, someone to talk to, or peer support. The volunteers wear light green vests. The volunteers offer unhurried encounters and are committed to confidentiality. If you would like to know more about the help offered by volunteers in the hospital, contact the OLKA support center.
Please contact OLKA when seeking peer support or want to know more about various organizations and volunteer activities in the hospital.
Come visit OLKA
OLKA customer service is open
- At the OLKA service point of the Meilahti Triangle Hospital from Monday to Thursday between 9:00 and 12:00.
- At the OLKA service point of Hyvinkää Hospital from Monday to Thursday between 9:00 and 12:00.
Call
You can call OLKA on weekdays between 9:00 and 12:00. OLKA’s customer service number is 050 375 3914.
Request a callback
If we are unable to respond, you can request a callback either by phone or email; we will respond within the next business day. Email: olka@hus.fi.
The counseling nurse is available in the Comprehensive Cancer Center on weekdays between 9:00 and 15:00. To read more, please follow this link.
Family Friends are volunteers trained by HelsinkiMissio providing presence, support and practical assistance to patients and their families in the New Children's Hospital.
Participate in the development of our services
As a customer, you can participate in the evaluation, development and implementation of our services and research activities by providing feedback, by serving on customer and research panels, or by sharing your views as an expert by experience.
Applications to the customer and research panels and the expert by experience network are open twice a year. Read more about what the panels do at the links below.
You can give us feedback on both your treatment and our activities in general. Your feedback is important to us as it helps us develop our services. You can submit your feedback at this link.
Our customers have the opportunity to participate in developing our customer-oriented care culture, the use of facilities, and our services by serving as a member of a customer panel. We have twenty different customer panels. The customer panels are assembled by disease group.
Members of the customer panels of our departments are selected based on their experience and education. Becoming a panel member does not require previous experience or training; we provide training for all panel members. Customer panel meetings are held a few times a year and the panel members work together with our care staff.
Research panel members present our researchers with insights that researchers can utilize in their studies. The panel members will be able to give input at the different stages of medical, health and nursing science studies from planning to presenting the results.
Members are recruited to the customer and research panels twice a year. The term begins either in August or January and lasts for two years.
Leave your contact details in the form at this linkand we’ll email you when the recruitment begins. We will also announce the start of the recruitment on our website and social media.
As an expert by experience, you are a person who has completed the training for experts by experience and has first-hand experience of an illness or injury.
This link takes you to videos where experts by experience introduce themselves.
As an expert by experience, you are trained to:
- Participate in various work, steering, and management groups
- Evaluate services and participate in research groups
- Plan new activities
- Provide support to a customer or act as a group leader alongside a professional.
As an expert by experience, you are providing a valuable perspective on the treatment process from the customer's point of view. New experts by experience are recruited twice a year. The term begins either in August or January. Leave your contact details in the form at this link and we’ll email you when the recruitment begins. We will also announce the start of the recruitment on our website and social media.
Volunteer to support our customers
Volunteers give people who are visiting our hospitals an unhurried opportunity to have a chat. You can volunteer as a peer supporter, conversation partner, lobby assistant, family friend, or a support person for hospice care in our hospital.
Volunteers work in hospital lobbies, at OLKA service points, or on some wards and emergency departments. Volunteer shifts are mainly on weekdays and during the daytime hours. It is possible to do some tasks in the evenings or during weekends. As a volunteer, you provide support to our hospital’s customers and their loved ones.
Follow this link to watch a video about volunteer activities at OLKA.
- Peer supporters have first- or second-hand experience with the condition or injury and they provide support to others who are going through the same situation. To learn more about being a peer supporter, follow this link to the Health Village (in Finnish).
- Conversation partners provide company to hospitalized customers for example by chatting, reading or playing with the customer.
- Lobby assistants help patients and other visitors to the hospital find their way around, either by directing or escorting them to their destination.
- Hospice care support persons provide support and company to patients in hospice care and their loved ones.
- Family Friends provide support to children and their families in the New Children’s Hospital.
As a volunteer, you can get involved without any special medical knowledge or skills. However, we require the following:
- you want to be there to support the hospital’s customers
- you can communicate in Finnish in addition to any other languages
- you swear to maintain secrecy and to adhere to the hospital’s hygiene policy, and
- you are at least 18 years old.
It is important to have a balanced life situation when acting as a hospital volunteer. Volunteers should have measles and chickenpox vaccinations or have had these infections previously. In addition, we require our volunteers to get the influenza vaccine annually.
We provide hospital volunteers with a training session that lasts one evening and further training and recreational activities further down the line.
Apply to become a volunteer conversation partner, peer supporter, lobby assistant, or hospice volunteer or peer supporter in the Toivo app by sending an email to olka@hus.fi
If you would like to become a Family Friend, please contact HelsinkiMissio. For more information, please follow this link.
Attention associations! Join us to support our customers
Associations and those who provide services in hospitals are welcome to share information about their activities and provide peer support at our OLKA service points.
OLKA service point theme days are free for theme day organizers and the visitors. We recommend having a theme day each month so that as many people as possible learn about the theme day organizer. There are OLKA service points in several hospitals. OLKA coordinators will help you find the right service point for your needs.
Theme days can be organized by employees or volunteers. No special skills or know-how is required. It is enough to commit to hospital policies, such as hygiene and confidentiality practices. The audience for theme days is primarily customers and loved ones visiting the hospital, but some of our employees also visit the service point on theme days.
For more information on booking a theme day, please visit this link.
You can bring a reasonable number of free magazines and brochures to the OLKA service point at a time. You can bring or send brochures to the coordinators at the OLKA service point in the Meilahti Triangle Hospital or Hyvinkää Hospital; the coordinators will deliver the materials to other OLKA service points.
OLKA refers to coordinated organization and volunteering activities in our hospitals. The activities are carried out in cooperation with the organizations HyTe ry and Keski-Uudenmaan Yhdistysverkosto ry. Read more about the activities at this link.
When you come to a hospital to hold a theme day, please follow these practices:
- Only come to the hospital when you are healthy.
- Maintain good hand hygiene.
- Everything you hear, see or otherwise come to know, e.g. personal and confidential matters, must be kept confidential.
- You are not allowed to take photos or video of the hospital's customers or staff.
- Do not smoke during the theme day.
- Do not wear any fragrances to the hospital.
- Do not take a position in a customer’s care matters. Marketing products, medicines, studies, or treatments is prohibited.
- Solicitation of membership of organizations and sales activities are prohibited.
- In case of potential security threats, contact the nearest staff member.
- If the theme day includes a musical performance etc., confirm with OLKA in advance to check if this is possible.
- At the end of the theme day, fill in the form for keeping track of statistics. It will be sent to your email address when you book the theme day.
- Please leave the venue tidy.
To book a theme day in a hospital in the capital region, please follow this link.
To book a theme day in a hospital in a Central Uusimaa hospital, please follow this link.
Your association’s peer supporters can volunteer in our hospitals. We really appreciate the support you provide for our customers! We offer in-hospital orientation and, if necessary, free peer supporter training for aspiring volunteers. In addition to peer support tasks, it is also possible to perform other volunteer duties. For more information on booking a theme day, please visit this link.
Vertaistalo.fi, a national online service coordinated by OLKA, provides reliable information about peer support and associations that provide peer support. Information on associations is collected in the search engine on the Vertaistalo website, which you can access by clicking on this link (in Finnish).
The association’s peer supporters can also use the Toivo application. Read more about the application at this link.
The following links will take you the Facebook pages of OLKA:
To find OLKA on Instagram, please use the following tags:
- @olkatoiminta
- @olkakeskiuusimaa
OLKA also uses the following tags on social media:
- #sairaanhyvääseuraa
- #sairaanhyväfiilis
- #sairaalavapaaehtoiset
Updated: 08.09.2025