The regional cooperation group for student welfare
The regional cooperation group for student welfare is a collaboration structure mandated by the student welfare act, tasked with, among other things, preparing the regional student welfare plan. The regional cooperation group for student welfare for the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County was formed based on nomination requests sent to collaborating parties.
- Chairperson: Service Line Director Tuija Harakka, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County - Children, Youth, and Family Services, Preventive and Early Support Services
- Secretary: Student Welfare Specialist Kati Wilska-Seemer, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County - Children, Youth, and Family Services, Preventive and Early Support Services, kati.wilska-seemer@luvn.fi, tel. 050 523 9101
We are working to improve the student welfare services of the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County by developing and prioritising multidisciplinary collaboration. The goal is to standardise and increase cooperation among different professional groups in student welfare to better respond to the service needs of our clients.
This practically involves arranging regular planning and collaboration sessions, as well as increasing doctors' involvement in collective student welfare efforts.
The goal of the project is to meet the growing need for youth mental health services by utilising a multi-disciplinary approach within basic services. We aspire to create a system where we can address service needs through a "single door principle"—providing services with a low threshold at the student’s own educational institution, as part of student welfare.
- As the autumn semester progresses, we are coordinating employees and their supervisors to discuss the development of multidisciplinary collaboration in joint meetings. The discussions will continue in student welfare groups at their respective educational institutions, in collaboration with principals and teachers.
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In this project, we are further developing the Elämä edessä (“Life Ahead”) operational model, initially piloted in Espoo, promoting its adoption across all student welfare environments within the Wellbeing Services County. The project especially targets youths struggling with mental health challenges or symptoms common to the neuropsychiatric spectrum.
Multidisciplinary collaboration
By improving multidisciplinary collaboration, we reduce the need to refer young people who need support to other services later on. Enhanced and standardised collaboration eliminates redundant work, removes obstacles to early help, and reduces the need for specialised healthcare. Key ideas steering the development of collaboration include early identification, a common assessment principle, utilisation of proven methods, enhancing expertise, multidisciplinary consultations, and network collaboration.