Uplifting Spirits Through Everyday Assistance and Shared Activities: Positive Outcomes from a Home Care Collaboration Pilot
We are piloting a collaborative initiative with select clients from the home care unit in Matinkylä. In this partnership, Gubbe Sydänystävät Oy, a contracted company, provides services for social engagement and home care tasks. This enables our professionals at the Wellbeing Services County to devote more time on essential care tasks.
Ashak Vasan, 74, skilfully manoeuvres his wheelchair with one leg as he warmly welcomes us into his kitchen.
“Would you like some tea?”
He turns on the stove, boils water, and adds crushed cardamom seeds to the pot. He then asks his assistant, Noe Tulander, 19, to chop fresh ginger.
"I’m not much of a cook. But after my wife passed away, I’ve been learning. I watch cooking shows and practice with recipes. Noe helps me with that.
Noe visits Vasan once a week for two hours, providing similar assistance to four other clients on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Their tasks vary from grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking, to offering technical help with computers or phones, and even gardening alongside clients.
“Each client usually has specific things they need help with, but we can decide on activities for each visit as needed,” Noe explains.
Small, Everyday Support Supports Functional Capacity
Ashak Vasan is one of the beneficiaries of this pilot program, which seeks to explore the impact of light home care assistance on the elderly’s ability to maintain their functionality. The other goal is to determine whether such support can reduce the need for more intensive home care services.
After a tendered selection process, Gubbe Sydänystävät Oy was chosen as the partner for this initiative, with criteria emphasizing client engagement and participation. The collaboration commenced in February 2024.
Gubbe’s employees, like Noe, are young, multilingual, and trained to engage clients actively.
Typically, a Gubbe assistant will visit clients once a week for 1-2 hours. Clients pay €10 per hour for the service, and efforts are made to ensure that the same employee visits the client consistently.
Home care nurse Katariina Salokoski reflects on the success of this collaboration.
“We maintain close communication, coordinating schedules and tailoring the assistants’ visits to meet both the clients’ needs and home care objectives. I also receive updates on any significant observations made during the visits,” she says.
What Does the Client Need?
The collaboration pilot, which initially included five clients, has now expanded to ten, all selected from the Matinkylä-Olari area. New clients join through home rehabilitation services.
To partake in Gubbe’s offerings, an elderly individual must first be a home care client. Once home care is approved through Senior Info, the home care team takes over.
“We deliberate collectively on which clients might benefit from the household assistance provided by Gubbe. We then inform the client about this opportunity, and they can decide whether to embrace it,” explains Katariina Salokoski.
Social interaction and a sense of inclusion have a profound impact on health. Loneliness actually amplifies the need for social and health services, propelling individuals to seek assistance even in the absence of a tangible health issue.
“We have home care clients who do not necessarily need a nurse but lack family and friends. Devoid of social contacts in daily life, it’s easy to become inert and start losing functionality. It’s a vicious cycle,” describes home rehabilitation practical nurse Niina Renko.
Even the smallest assistance can empower a client, granting them greater autonomy and imbuing their daily routine with meaning. When a client receives non-medical help through Gubbe, home care professionals can focus on caregiving tasks, ultimately saving time and resources.
The Power of Independence and Inclusion
Although the pilot is set to run until the end of the year, its benefits are already evident. When a client’s mood lifts, the caregiving process becomes also smoother.
“For instance, one of my wound care patients has clearly benefited with Gubbe’s service. He has ventured out shopping with the assistant, and his independence has increased. He has much better control over his life,” Katariina Salokoski rejoices.
Clients have warmly embraced Noe Tulander.
“The feedback has been positive; clients are grateful and happy. Initially, I had to gently insist on helping if I noticed a client struggling with a task, but now, after several visits, they feel comfortable requesting help.”
For Ashak Vasan, most days include cooking, reading, and resting.
“I enjoy life, but I don’t have much company. It’s good to have someone to help.”
“I want to do as much as I can on my own, but I can’t manage everything. Now, I receive help with cooking, washing dishes, and light cleaning. Noe is a good kid and I’m very grateful for the support.”
