Localist well-being promotion for the elderly: The change in the role of Finnish municipalities from a local service provider to a community-oriented facilitator

Description

Online presentation in an international symposium organized on 5-6 October 2024 by Ritsumeikan University, Japan.

Abstract of the presentation: Aging municipalities are in the process of reinventing their role in the Finnish welfare state after municipal elderly care services were reformed and transferred to new regional public authorities, known as Wellbeing Services Counties (WSCs), at the beginning of 2023. As our aim is to explore emerging and post-reform welfare tendencies of new localism, we analyze changing municipal services and ask: how do local authorities contribute to the welfare of senior citizens after their budgets and institutional roles were diminished due to the regionalization reform in Finland? Our research data consists of relevant law drafting materials, policy reviews, and previous studies. In addition, we will demonstrate the service policies and organizational changes of three case local authorities and evaluate the role of local councils for the elderly. The source material for these cases includes municipal planning documents, meeting minutes, websites, and newspaper articles. Our research findings show that the regionalization reform has dramatically reduced the professional welfare functions of local authorities, shifting them from being the institutional backbone of social and health care to becoming community-oriented facilitators and knowledge brokers, aiming to make indirect and preventive but diverse contributions to the welfare of senior citizens. As local authorities have the statutory duty to holistically promote the welfare and health of their residents, their new localism also means they are looking for solutions to fine-tune some of their standard services and provide reductions in service charges to support the evolving activity needs, mobility, and access to services for elderly persons.

Aikajakso	5 lokak. 2024
Tapahtuman otsikko	International Symposium on Global Aging and Diversity: Counter-hegemonic narratives of aging - Identity, space, and belonging
Tapahtuman tyyppi	Workshop
Sijainti	Kyoto, JapaniNäytä kartalla
Tunnustuksen arvo	International