Satu Pirskanen - Rural Elderly Care in Finland

Satu Pirskanen is a nurse and  Project Manager at the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland.  Episode summary: 01.05 Satu tells us about her professional background and how she became interested in rural health 03.05  What does she find most enjoyable about living and working in a rural area and what does she find most challenging? 04.12  How is primary care and community care organized in Finland? 08.00  What are the main challenges facing rural communities regarding their health and wellbeing? 12.15  What is the Attraction in Elderly Care Project? 15.30  Which factors were attraction and retention?  16.30 What kind of elderly care is needed in rural communities?  18.35  What other services are used in Finland to support rural populations? 22.08  How has the tool helped with recruitment and retention?  23.41  Are there any interesting projects at Savonia University and are they looking for collaborators?   Key messages:  Most areas in Finland are rural areas, there are only 9 cities with over 100 000 inhabitants, over 3 million people live in rural areas.   Well Being Counties took effect last year in Finland, they organize health and social care services and the financing comes from the state.  Municipal health centres provide primary care and they are responsible for GP services, nursing services and maternal and child health services.  They also take care of screening and preventative services.   One of the core principles of Well-being Counties is that social services are integrated with primary care services.   The challenges for rural healthcare:  distance to services, shortage of healthcare professionals, longer waiting times and reduced access to care, telehealth access is limited due to connectivity issues or lack of digital skills, aging population with greater needs, mental health issues and social isolation, and economic constraints. Attraction in Elderly Care Project aimed to identify the attraction and retention factors for elderly care staff and develop a tool to help organizations evaluate their attraction and retention factors. Created an Attraction Model which consist of 9 factors: 1) Appreciation, ")Human resources, 3) Flexible working life solutions, 4) Inclusive and supportive staff management, 5) Orientation and student guidance, 6) Functioning and prosperous work community, 7) External communication, 8) Strong professional expertise and work development, and 9) Resource oriented approach to work for the elderly. Limited prescribing for nurses helps with access to certain medications for chronic conditions such as angina and asthma.   Transportation services are available for those that have reduced mobility to help them attend medical appointments.  Data from the tool shows that many of the factors still need developing at elderly care organizations. PATHS project - for self-management or co-management for elderly care, to support transition to community led care. 13 elderly care teams are progressing towards community management. They are planning to publish a guide about this process.  Savonia University: https://www.savonia.fi/en/homepage/ Contact Satu: [email protected]    Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health! Rural Health Compass