Authors

• Aukee, Ranja (University of Tampere. Department of Social Policy and Social Work)

Keywords

associations, career, identity, learned societies, membership, public health, research, science policy, social medicine

Abstract

The survey charted views of the members of the Society for Social Medicine in Finland on the field of social medicine and the identity of social medicine practitioners and researchers.

Relating to the Society for Social Medicine in Finland, the respondents were asked when they had joined it, what was their reason for joining it, whether they had been a member or a deputy member of the Society's board, whether they were a member of a section of the Society, and what the significance of the Society had been for them. Membership of the Finnish Network of Qualitative Health Research (LATE) was also queried about.

Regarding the Journal of Social Medicine, published by the Society for Social Medicine in Finland, questions probed how often the respondents read the journal, whether their articles or other texts had been published in it in the previous 12 months, whether they had been part of the editorial staff, what kinds of articles in the journal interested them, and satisfaction with the journal.

With respect to the field of social medicine, views were investigated on whether the term 'social medicine' (sosiaalilääketiede) should be retained or substituted with another, whether the status of social medicine had changed in relation to other branches of medicine, and which fields of study were regarded as the most important within social medicine. Further questions covered the respondents' identities as social medicine practitioners, for instance, whether they considered themselves social medicine practitioners, whom they regarded as the most important Finnish social medicine practitioners, and whether their tasks at work had any association with social medicine research. Those respondents who had conducted social medicine or public health research were asked what kind of research they had conducted, what topics they had researched, how many years they had conducted research within the field, and whether they were satisfied with their career development.

The final set of questions investigated activity in associations as well as positions of responsibility, for instance, membership of a social services and health care committee, voluntary work related to health care, and involvement in science policy in the field of health care.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, field of vocational education, gender, marital status, province of residence, highest academic degree, and type of employer.