Tekijät

• Moisio, Pasi (National Institute for Health and Welfare)

Asiasanat

activities of daily living, family policy, health, health policy, health services, housing, informal care, living conditions, quality of life, satisfaction, social networks, social services, social welfare, standard of living, welfare policy, well-being (health)

Sisällön kuvaus

Welfare and Services in Finland is a panel survey that combines telephone and face-to-face interviews, postal surveys and register data. The aim of the study is to offer up-to-date, reliable and extensive research data on Finnish welfare and the use of welfare services. In 2009, the survey was conducted as a telephone interview and postal survey.

Questions in the telephone interview surveyed well-being, social relationships, health, use and accessibility of health services, informal care, and quality of life.

Well-being was charted with questions focusing on the standard of living and housing. The respondents were asked whether they were able to save money and pay their expenses, whether the household could afford certain things (e.g. buy new clothes rather than used ones), and how satisfied they were with different aspects of their housing and neighbourhood of residence.

Questions about social relationships probed feelings of loneliness, contacts with friends and relatives, and activities in a club or association. Relating to health and health services, questions were asked about health status, limiting long-term illnesses or disabilities and their impact on daily life, stress, pregnancies, and visits to a doctor or nurse in the previous 12 months. Further questions probed whether the respondents had received sufficient care for health problems, and whether they had had to wait unreasonably long to receive treatment (e.g. to get a doctor's appointment in a health centre). Dental health and visits to a dentist were surveyed as well as perceptions of the quality of public and private health services.

Views on social services were charted with questions about trust in the skills of social services staff, the extent to which tax revenue should be used to fund various services, whether social services in Finland functioned well or needed improvement, and whether the respondents would be entitled to different services and benefits should they need them. Use of social services was investigated with questions surveying contacts with the social services in the previous 12 months, sufficiency of the aid or service, waiting time for the aid or service, and satisfaction with the services. Use of and satisfaction with private social services were surveyed.

Questions concerning informal care studied whether the respondents assisted an aged, disabled or sick friend or relative, whether they were the primary caregiver of the person they cared for, how often they helped this person, how satisfied they were with public and private services the person they helped had received, and whether they had made an informal care agreement with the municipality.

Perceptions of quality of life were charted as well as satisfaction with health, experiences of physical pain, enjoyment of life, sense of significance, ability to focus on things, sense of security or insecurity in daily life, healthiness of physical environment, ability to do things in the previous two weeks (in terms of, for instance, money and energy), ability to move, satisfaction with various things in life (e.g. neighbourhood of residence), and negative feelings.

The postal survey charted health problems and insurances, health services and their funding, social security, and personal health. Relating to health problems and insurances, questions surveyed where the respondents would primarily try to get a doctor's appointment during daytime, how short-term sick leave was monitored at the workplace, insurances purchased, and days spent in hospital for treatment in the previous 12 months.

Questions regarding health services and their funding studied views on whether healthcare functioned well or needed improvement, which areas of healthcare should be improved in the municipality, which services should be developed in the municipality (e.g. hospital services, dental health services), whether the government should lower taxes or increase health care funding, and how health services should primarily be funded.

Views on social security were surveyed. Opinions were charted on the level of social security in Finland, the relationship between taxation level and social security, preferable ways of providing health and social services (i.e. private or public), and the extent to which tax revenue should be used to fund different services. The effects of the economic recession on the circumstances of the respondents and their friends were surveyed as well as potential financial problems caused by the service fees for health and social services.

Finally, with regards to personal health, the respondents were asked about the ability to move, read, hear, breathe, sleep, eat and speak normally as well as bladder and bowel function, ability to perform everyday tasks, ability to think clearly and remember things, health problems and symptoms, mood, anxiety, energy, and effect of health on love life. Dental health and satisfaction with love life in the previous two weeks was investigated.

Background variables included, among others, the household size and type of municipality of residence as well as the respondent's occupation, gender, and year of birth. In addition, there are register variables containing information on region (NUTS3), statistical grouping of the municipality of residence, hospital district, disposable income of the household, and level of education (3-level ISCED classification).