Applying for support for informal care

Support for informal care refers to an entity consisting of

• Care fee paid to the informal carer​
• Social welfare and health care services provided to the care recipient to meet their needs
• Informal carer’s statutory leave​ 3 days/month
• Support and guidance provided to informal carers as well as training and coaching ​
• Informal carers’ wellbeing and health examinations
• Accident insurance for informal carers
• When persons under the age of 68 act as informal carers, they accrue pension

Index-adjusted care fees for support for informal care in 2026 County Board 15.12.2025 §290 (in Finnish)(external link)

• Daily repeated need for care EUR 530.00 per month in 2026 (EUR 472.15 per month in 2025)   
• Round-the-clock need for care EUR 868.77 per month in 2026 (EUR 848.99 per month in 2025)
• Stages of very demanding care EUR 1682.31 per month in 2026 (EUR 1644.00 per month in 2025)

Read the guide for more information on contractual informal care (in Finnish)(external link)

It may be time to apply for support for informal care if you are helping your loved one repeatedly and daily in several care tasks and the care is demanding and requires a high level of commitment. How much of a commitment informal care is depends on the functional capacity of your loved one, how much they can do independently and how much help and supervision they need. Just taking care of your loved one’s affairs and taking them places does not meet the criteria for granting support for informal care.

Examples of what an informal carer helps with:

• mobility and transitions
• going to the toilet and personal hygiene
• getting dressed and eating
• taking medicine and doing treatment procedures
• communication

Apply for support for informal care by filling in the application. You can fill in the application either online or on paper. Please note that the applicant is the loved one who needs an informal carer.

You need strong identification with online banking codes to fill in the online application. The online application is transferred immediately to our system automatically, after which the processing of the application starts.

The printed application is sent by post to the address on the application. Please note that an application sent by post will arrive within an estimated 1 to 2 weeks according to the schedules of the postal service.

The need for support for informal care is assessed during a home visit in connection with the service needs assessment. A medical certificate alone is not enough to justify granting support for informal care. During the meeting, the client manager uses interviews, observations and assessment indicators to assess the overall situation and need for assistance as well as the demands and level of commitment of the care provided by the informal carer in relation to the care recipient’s own functional capacity.

The assessment of the need for support for informal care is based on

• the care recipient’s own functional capacity
• how demanding the care provided by the informal carer is and the required level of commitment
• the informal carer’s ability to act as an informal carer and respond to the care needs in cooperation with the wellbeing services county
• suitability and safety of the home environment

A written decision on the support for informal care is then issued and sent to your home by post.