Informal care agreements will be transferred over to the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County - what will change?
Informal care agreements, informal care support and the related care allowance are initially transferred as such from the municipalities to the wellbeing services counties. However, during 2023, informal care agreements will be checked and verified to ensure that they comply with the granting criteria and allowances of the wellbeing services county.
Johanna Rannikko, project manager for organising informal care support in the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, says that while informal care support was previously granted based on the granting criteria in the municipality of residence, in the future, the need for care will be assessed in relation to the common criteria of the entire Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
Informal carers living in different municipalities will also see slightly different degrees of change.
– In the past, municipalities have differed greatly in their practices. The differences have concerned, for example, the amount of allowance paid to informal carers, payment dates, the number of care intensity categories as well as client fees. These are now consistent throughout the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, Rannikko says.
Verification of the informal care agreements means, in practice, that employees specialised in support for informal care will visit each client at home during 2023, after which the agreement will be renewed. The aim is to complete all visits during 2023.
– During the visit, the caregiving situation is discussed together with the informal carer and the person being cared for. At the same time, they have the opportunity to learn more about the services and to update their care and service plan. The functional ability of the person being cared for will be evaluated along with their needs for treatment and care. Additionally, the necessary arrangements to meet these needs will be discussed, just like during regular home visits relating to informal care support.
The transfer of services to the Wellbeing Services County does not require any action on part of the informal carer.
– They only need to submit their tax card for 2023. The informal carers have already been instructed of this by mail.
Support for informal care consists of care allowance and holidays for the informal carer, and, if needed, other services supporting informal care.
– The amount of care allowance depends on how binding and demanding the care provided by the informal carer is.
However, according to Rannikko, granting of the minimum allowance has already been at a very similar level in the municipalities of the county.
– The familiar informal care support workers will continue in their roles. So while there will be changes, many things will also stay the same, Rannikko says with a smile.