EU funding improves access to care and low-threshold mental health services
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has granted EUR 14.3 million in discretionary government transfers to the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County as part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland. The programme’s funding comes from the EU's one-off recovery instrument (Next Generation EU).
The objectives of the funding are to promote the equality, availability and multi-channel nature of social welfare and health care services and to promote the introduction of new digital solutions.
“The granted EU funding will be used to develop the health care and social welfare services of the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County in the coming years. In particular, we aim to improve services for people in a vulnerable position: for example, we develop operating models supporting mental health for children, young people and families and improve multilingual low-threshold services,” says Johan Sanmark, Director of Research, Development and Innovation (RDI).
One of the key investments that funding makes possible is improving access to care at health stations. This is done by introducing new operating methods, such as a team health centre model and by piloting a personal doctor model.
The implementation of the Terapiat etulinjaan operating model will also continue in the wellbeing services county. The operating model aims to ensure that each social welfare and health care professional at the “front line” has tools to support the client’s mental health. This way, people would receive support quickly and regardless of where they seek help. There are already good experiences of the operating model in the Western Uusimaa region.
A significant investment is also made in increasing e-services offering. We will introduce an electronic family centre and increase the use of remote technology in rehabilitation and social services. By developing e-services, we aim to improve the availability and accessibility of services in the wellbeing services county.
The funding package includes approximately 40 projects that develop traditional services and e-services in the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County and will be implemented in 2023–2025.