Professor of Geriatrics Esa Jämsen visits Hospital Services of the Wellbeing Services County

Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County was honoured to have Professor of Geriatrics Esa Jämsen as a guest on 26 March 2024. Jämsen, a professor at the University of Helsinki and a native of Tampere, visited the wellbeing services county and hospital services at Espoo Hospital. 

During Jämsen's visit, Roope Leppänen, Director of Hospital Services, presented to the professor the operating area, organisational structure and functions of Hospital Services of Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County. The professor was given an update on the organisation of care for the elderly and plans for the future in area with a rapidly growing elderly population.

“It’s important to promote rehabilitation and support the functional capacity of the elderly through hospital services provided at home. The importance of housing services and assessment units is expected to grow in the future. The ageing of the population, combined with very uneven population growth in the wellbeing services county, poses challenges for the future plans of Hospital Services. It’s important to remember that the development of the wellbeing services county and HUS is shared,” reflects Roope Leppänen.

Western Uusimaa Hospital Services is responsible for the hospital services of the wellbeing services county, the geriatric outpatient clinic and home services such as the home hospital and mobile hospital (LiiSa). Hospital Services has offices in Espoo, Kirkkonummi, Siuntio, Raasepori, Vihti, Lohja, Karkkila and Hanko.

During his visit, the professor met the deputy chief physicians of the hospital wards, the palliative care centre and home care who act as trainers for the specialists. During his tour of the wards, the professor himself went to talk to a specialising physician.

“After Helsinki, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County is the largest wellbeing services county in Uusimaa in terms of population. The professor's visit is not only a significant recognition of our employees, but also a valuable opportunity to share the kind of work we do in Western Uusimaa Hospital Services, and in what kind of framework,” says Miika Heinonen, Senior Training Physician.

The professor also praised the high level of specialist training at Espoo Hospital.

“The training of specialists at Espoo Hospital has been of very high quality and diverse year after year. I also commend the excellent guidance provided to the students.”

“The wellbeing services county is further diversifying high-quality education. It’s also quite unique that Hospital Services of the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County has a senior training physician in charge of developing geriatric specialist training,” said Jämsen, humorously stating that the biggest challenge is that the specialists like Espoo Hospital so much that they often want to stay.

There are currently 11 geriatricians in training in the wellbeing services county. According to Miika Heinonen, the aim of the joint training and the local support provided by the senior training physician is to strengthen the skills of the doctors receiving training, and thus raise the level of specialist training in hospital services even further. According to a survey by the Young Doctors' Association (NLY), Espoo Hospital is a 5-star training location.

“The aim is to create a centre of expertise for geriatric medicine in Hospital Services in the wellbeing services county and to provide high-quality specialist training throughout area. 

Hospital Services of the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County is already a centre of geriatric expertise in the wellbeing services county.” 

“We have geriatricians working at different units. We're good at specialising.  Within the large wellbeing services county, it’s possible to do a wide range of jobs without changing employer. In addition to ward work, it’s possible to work in a memory clinic, palliative care centre, home care, home hospital, etc. With one employer, holidays and personal pay supplements, for example, are maintained,” Heinonen points out.

During his visit, Professor Jämsen gave a lecture on “How to make enough treatment places available?” which was of interest to all hospital staff. According to Jämsen, this challenge applies to services and staff for the elderly throughout the wellbeing services county, be it hospital services, home care or housing services.

“If we look at demographic trends and the number of people over 75, we can see that in 2035 we will have around 900 more people in need of 24-hour care than today. We need to ensure places for those who absolutely need them and, in turn, ensure that other elderly people are able to function in good health for as long as possible,” says Jämsen.

Jämsen pointed out that ageing in itself does not automatically mean that you need help.  “In a very heterogeneous group of elderly people, the need for help is largely linked to a variety of illnesses. At the same time, it’s important to understand that an acute health problem is often just the tip of the iceberg.”

It’s crucial to move away from traditional diagnosis-centred thinking and take into account the many factors underlying state of health.. The whole is a web of several mutually reinforcing factors. For example, malnutrition, associated muscle weakness, mobility problems, loneliness, mood disorders, medication, risk of falls and so on should be identified and addressed. By looking deeper into the problems that affect the health of the elderly, we can avoid the need for more frequent trips to emergency departments and hospitals, which further reduce their ability to function, while at the same time making sure there are enough places to care for them. Recognising the diversity of the needs of the elderly, knowing the patient, multidisciplinary cooperation and rehabilitation are key,” said Jämsen.

At the end of his lecture, Jämsen summarised the opportunities and threats for the wellbeing services county.

“A wellbeing services county offers the opportunity to create large-scale care systems, measure quality and outcomes, and make use of an extensive knowledge base (RAI/Resident Assessment Instrument). A large area without boundaries allows the creation of new things and more even distribution of resources. At the same time, care must be taken not to overlook the special needs of the elderly and treat patients as a mass, or to focus resources and attention on specialist care alone. It's important to have a clear picture of the service system as a whole," said Jämsen.