Two surveys on improving inclusion and accessibility in social and health services are now open

Have you moved to Finland from another country? Do your work in social and health care? Share your experiences of social and healthcare services in Finland and help to improve them!

Osana network, led by the Finnish Rehabilitation Foundation, is currently investigating how the inclusion of immigrants to Finland is implemented in social and health services. Osana is a partnership network founded by the Rehabilitation Foundation which aims to promotes the inclusion of immigrants in social and health care services in Finland. The network is coordinated by Senior Researcher Sirkku Varjonen from the Rehabilitation Foundation and the members come from public social and health care services, NGOs working in the field, research institutions and universities.  

There are two online surveys open now for improving inclusion and accessibility of social and health care services. The first survey will explore the experiences of professionals who work in social and health services and encounter people who have moved to Finland. The second questionnaire surveys the experiences of people who have moved to Finland and use social and health services. INEQ's director and SOSKIELI project's responsible researcher at University of Helsinki Dr. Meri Kulmala has been actively involved in designing and implementing the surveys with other partners in the project, including Moniheli, a Finnish multicultural network with more than hundred member organisations. The network supports integration and social inclusion and advances equity in the Finnish society.

The aim of the surveys is to support the everyday work of professionals and to help develop social and health services so that people who have moved to Finland can use and benefit from them better.

The survey data is collected by the Rehabilitation Foundation and will be used in the work of the Osana and Moniheli networks. Additionally, the researchers of the Rehabilitation Foundation and the SOSKIELI project, a joint research project University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi focusing on language diversity and vulnerabilities in social work may use the survey data in their research and teaching. Later, the data will be offered to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive to be archived without personal information. The Archive may disclose data to its registered clients for research, teaching and study purposes.

See some more information on the survey webpage through which the different language versions can be accessed. The survey questionnaire for professionals is available in Finnish and Swedish. The questionnaire for people who have moved to Finland can be answered in the following languages: Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Estonian, Somali, Arabic.