Social Welfare and Health Care Reform Examined at Health Campus Seminars
How will the collaboration between different actors bring Turku region another step closer to the social welfare and health care reform? The question was discussed in the Health Campus projects seminar and the social welfare and health care service structure reform seminar, which were organised by the Health Campus Turku and the polytechnic Master's degree students of the Turku University of Applied Sciences at ICT City on 2–3 October 2017.
Health Campus Turku presented its operations in the seminar through several collaborative projects. The Health Campus projects prepare work communities as well as their practices for the upcoming social welfare and health care reform.
The seminar on Tuesday, 3 October, was planned and carried out by the polytechnic Master's degree students in social welfare and health care management and development. The themes of the day were the social welfare and health care reform and the changes, challenges and opportunities it brings.
The Chair of the Steering Group of the Health Campus Turku Juhani Soini (in the picture) opened the seminar series by recounting the background of the collaboration agreement that was recently renewed and by discussing the current stage of the co-operation:
– The idea behind the Health Campus Turku project, which was initiated at the beginning of 2016, was to strengthen collaboration between local actors in the health care sector. The network develops the Turku University Hospital area as a multidisciplinary, international and top-level cluster of expertise. The goal is to increase collaboration in research, education and innovation activities.
– This autumn, in addition to the existing members which include the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku University of Applied Sciences, and Novia University of Applied Sciences, Turku Science Park joined the network as a new member in developing innovation activities and business.
Multi-professional Collaboration the Main Topic on 2 Oct
The seminar series presented what the Health Campus network has achieved in over a year. The collaboration has been especially close between different projects.
The first day of the seminar series presented the several projects operating on the Health Campus. Different kinds of joint projects in different areas are currently ongoing and they address the themes of, for example, management of the social welfare and health care reform, multi-professional education, and hospital-based innovations.
In the Tuesday seminar, Director of TSEexe Ulla Heinonen (in the picture) presented the management of the social welfare and health care reform training programme that is being planned. The purpose of the pilot is to train managers of the regional organisation to meet the challenges brought on by the social welfare and health care reform. The pilot starts next spring and the organisers hope that it will become a permanent support for leadership in the region.
Furthermore, the Head of the Centre for Medical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, Outi Kortekangas-Savolainen (in the picture), presented a concrete example of educational co-operation that crosses the boundaries between organisations. The Monelle training programme on patient care and rehabilitation teaches the students how to work in multi-professional teams.
The purpose of the university hospitals as innovation platforms project is to develop an operation model that can be used for creating new business out of hospital-based innovations. In addition, other joint projects in the Health Campus are related to licensing electronic data, drug development, profiling diagnostics, and reorganising ethical committees.
Social Welfare and Health Care Experts Were Heard on 3 Oct
Different experts on social welfare and health care were invited to the seminar to talk about the latest issues related to the reform that is coming into effect in 2020.
The lecturers included Director of Change Antti Parponen from the City of Turku, who discussed what is currently happening in Turku in regard to the social welfare and health care reform. Member of Parliament Li Andersson brought news from the province, and Senior Officer Marjukka Vallimies-Patomäki from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health shared national news on the reform.
In addition, Communications Manager of Welfare Division Arto Salo from the City of Turku talked about communications, and Change Agent Mikko Hulkkonen about the services for families with children as a target for change.
Ari Welling (pictured above on the right) got the panellists and the audience moving with an exercise.
Experts presented their thoughts on the threats and possibilities related to the social welfare and health care reform in the panel discussion moderated by Yle Journalist Ari Welling. The panelists, including Service Director Hannu Lähteenmäki from Terveystalo, Head of Health Services Katariina Korkeila at the City of Turku, CEO Ville Viitanen at Southwestern Finland Cancer Society, Head Physician Päivi Rautava from Turku University Hospital, and Expert Nina Merikanto from Hospital District of Southwest Finland, were rather unanimous in that the current service system requires a reform, but the reform must take into consideration different perspectives. The undertone of the conversation was positive.
– In the end, it is us who carry out the reform. So, let's make a better system, encouraged Päivi Rautava.
A message board, through which the members of audience were able to comment and participate in the votings based on the discussions, brought something extra to the traditional seminar day.
The Hospital District of Southwest Finland, the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Novia University of Applied Sciences are involved in the Health Campus Turku collaboration. The parties promote research and collaboration prerequisites, education, and business and innovation activities.
Text and photos: Tilda Junko
Translation: MR & SY