HUS as a promoter of health and wellbeing

The comprehensive promotion of wellbeing and health is a key part of the activities of municipalities and the hospital district. This project instills practices identified by the WHO and other evidence-based practices into the promotion of wellbeing and health. The aim is to create ‘waves’ of promoting wellbeing and health in the Uusimaa region, municipalities and hospital districts and to make the aspect of promoting wellbeing even more central to the work of municipalities and hospital districts.

The Good Spiral project is based on WHO’s Ottawa Charter viewpoints on health promotion, including five areas of activity:

• Building a social policy that promotes health (municipalities, provinces)
• Creating environments that support health (all participants)
• Strengthening community activities (all participants)
• Developing individual skills (municipalities, health care)
• Re-orienting health services towards promoting wellbeing

Four key themes, called “baskets”, have been selected for the Good Spiral:

1. Promoting a non-smoking and nicotine-free life
2. Strengthening inclusion
3. Reducing health inequalities
4. Preventing falls

Each professional, municipality, organization, HUS industry or other social and health care organization can choose one or several baskets within which to develop their operations and services using co-creation methods and by utilizing the network. Each basket has one or more networks. If the interested is in learning, the baskets can also include sharing good practices or getting peer support.

Good Spiral network participants meet 2–4 times a year to confer on their themes in development workshops. In each project year, we organize a Good Spiral day in which all networks meet and exchange experiences on the success of promoting health and wellbeing. We organize trainings for professionals and experts in different fields. Research projects can be used as support in establishing the use of the basket operating models.

Smoking is the main preventable cause of premature mortality. Smoking costs society around EUR 1.5 billion annually. Supporting non-smoking is a cost-effective activity. The positive effects of cessation of smoking will already begin in the first 24 hours. Non-smoking facilitates the treatment of many diseases, supports healing, and reduces complications related to procedures.

Basket contents:

• Support for mobilization of the Current Care Guideline on Tobacco and nicotine dependency, prevention and treatment:
  • Support for the detoxification expertise of healthcare personnel
  • Making tobacco and nicotine detoxification accessible to everyone, for example, in the following contents
    • Expectant mothers and families
    • Adolescents
    • Mental health rehabilitees
    • Surgical patients
• Implementation of the Tobacco-free Finland 2030, Implementation of the Smoke-free Hospital and Smoke-free Campus programs

Network

Promoting a non-smoking and nicotine-free life

In the network including professionals and experts from primary health care, specialised medical care, and the third-sector, we promote intraprofessional and multidisciplinary cooperation to support weaning off from tobacco and nicotine. Our activities include various development workshops, training sessions, and seminars. We use Microsoft Teams as the working platform.

Contact person: Katrimaija Luurila

Inclusion belongs to everyone. It is about working as a part of the social systems, such as education and labor market systems. The areas of inclusion are 1) participation in one’s own life, 2) participation in influence processes, and 3) involvement in the local good. Inclusion is manifested as appreciation, as an individual’s experience of belonging to a group or entity that is relevant to themselves, and as an opportunity to make a difference.

There are approximately 60,000 adolescents who are excluded or at risk of social exclusion in Finland. Exclusion from society and its systems challenges not only the social economy, but it is also a humane issue affecting the individual as well as involving economic, health, and social factors. The cost to society is approximately EUR 1 million if a young person is permanently excluded from the labor market.

The contents of the basket include a wide-ranging promotion of the health and wellbeing of individuals by strengthening inclusion and supporting participation in society in the following population groups:

• Children and adolescents
• Long-term unemployed

Networks

Wellbeing of children and adolescents

The network consists of professionals and experts from Uusimaa who are interested in the wellbeing and health of children and adolescents and who are committed to promoting it in their work. In the network, we promote the wellbeing of children and adolescents by developing and sharing good practices and operating models. The themes include the methods of student welfare and the Finnish model in cooperation between the future wellbeing services counties and municipalities. The network meets four times a year. Our activities include various development workshops, training sessions, and seminars. We use Microsoft Teams as the working platform.

Contact person: Paula Häkkänen

Services for the long-term unemployed

The network consists of professionals in social welfare, health care, and employment services. In the network, we develop services that support the wellbeing and employment of the long-term unemployed. Our activities include various development workshops, training sessions, and seminars. We use Microsoft Teams as the working platform.

Contact person: Elina Kontio

If socioeconomic health inequalities were eliminated, the savings in direct health care costs would be around EUR 1.5–2 billion or 15% of total health care expenditure.

The contents of the “Reducing health inequalities” basket are:

• Support for the implementation of the Current Care Guideline for obesity prevention and treatment:
  • Bringing up the topic of weight
  • Regional care chains for children, adolescents, and adults
  • Policies and tools to support the integration of primary health care and specialist medical care in the treatment of obesity and as part of treatment chains
  • Strengthening the customer/patient focus
  • Strengthening prevention
• Different approaches to wellbeing and health, such as:
  • Digital treatment pathways in the treatment of obesity
  • StopDia operating model (THL)
  • Tulppa rehabilitation for Uusimaa (Finnish Heart Association)

Network

Obesity prevention and treatment

In a network of professionals and experts from primary health care and specialist medical care and the third sector, we promote intra-occupational and multi-professional cooperation in the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults and children.

The aim of the network is to introduce a renewed Current Care Guideline for obesity in 2020 and to develop common approaches to the treatment of obesity. Our highest aim is to create uniform pathways to treat obesity in Uusimaa. Our activities include various development workshops, training sessions, and seminars. We use Microsoft Teams as the working platform.

Contact persons: Paula Häkkänen, Laura Suojanen

Falling and stumbling are the most common types of accidents. In Finland, close to 400,000 stumbling and falling accidents occur every year, resulting in 1,200 deaths and 7,000 hip fractures. More than half of the injuries treated in hospitals have been caused by falls. Most of these patients are over 75 years of age and the accidents occur at home. Falls also occur in institutional and medical care at an estimate of 1–10 falls per 1,000 days of treatment. The cost of accidents by falling are estimated to be approximately EUR 2 billion annually, of which EUR 500 million are direct health care costs.

Basket contents:

• Self-assessment of the risk of falling and a risk assessment carried out by a healthcare professional as part of health and social services and organizational activities.
• Introduction of measures to prevent falls in health and social services and in organizational activities, e.g.
  • Safe environment and suitable assistive equipment
  • Balance and muscle function exercises and maintenance of functional capacity
  • Suitable medication and appropriate treatment of illnesses
• The activities are guided by the action plan of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health: Programme for the Prevention of Home and Leisure Injuries 2021–2030 and a description of the costs.
  
  Safely at All Ages : Programme for the Prevention of Home and Leisure Injuries 2021–2030 and a study on costs – Valto Institutional Repository for the Government (valtioneuvosto.fi) 

Network

The network for prevention of falling strengthens the competence of experts in primary health care, specialised medical care, and third sector health organizations and the sharing of best practices in preventing patient falls. Our activities include various development workshops, training sessions, and seminars. We use Microsoft Teams as the working platform.

Contact person: Anniina Heikkilä