FSD2889 Welfare and Services in Finland 2009: Face-to-Face Interviews of the Elderly

The dataset is (C) available for research only (including Master's, doctoral and Polytechnic/University of Applied Sciences Master's theses). The dataset may not be used for teaching, study (e.g. seminar papers, essays) or other theses (Bachelor's theses or equivalent).

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Study description in other languages

in Finnish

Related files

Questionnaire (PDF file, Finnish)

Study title

Welfare and Services in Finland 2009: Face-to-Face Interviews of the Elderly

Dataset ID Number

FSD2889

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2889
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2889

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

Moisio, Pasi (National Institute for Health and Welfare)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

Nieminen, Markku (Statistics Finland)
Nyberg, Riina (Statistics Finland)

Abstract

Welfare and Services in Finland is a 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.

This dataset contains face-to-face survey aimed at the elderly. Main topics included housing, economic circumstances, health and health services, need for care and assistance, informal care, social networks, and quality of life.

Relating to housing, questions charted housing tenure, number of rooms, floor area, plans of moving to some other housing, and the best housing alternative for elderly people who require care and assistance. Some questions studied the respondents' economic circumstances, for example, savings and ability to pay for food, medicine etc. They were also asked whether different services were close enough to their home (e.g. grocery shop, bank).

Relating to health and health services, questions were asked about health status, limiting long-term illnesses or disabilities and their impact on daily life, exercise habits, alcohol consumption, and visits to a doctor, nurse or hospital in the previous 12 months. Further questions probed where the respondents would primarily try to get a doctor's appointment during daytime, whether they had been in hospital as an inpatient in the previous 12 months, and whether they had received sufficient care for health problems. Perceptions of the quality of public and private health services were surveyed.

Need for care and assistance was charted by asking about managing with daily activities without help, help received for different activities, person or organisation that helped the respondents the most, services used in the previous 12 months and sufficiency of the services, financial problems caused by service fees, and person or organisation from whom the respondents would ask information regarding health and available services. Further questions studied whether the respondents had been evaluated in terms of service needs (by municipal authorities), whether informal care agreement had been made on caring for the respondents, whether the respondents had not received the assistance they had needed in the previous 12 months, and whether they trusted they would receive assistance, support and services should they need them. Views on the quality of public and 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. Questions related to social networks investigated contact with relatives, feelings on loneliness, loss of interest towards things that were previously pleasing, and financial and physical abuse suffered in the previous 12 months.

Finally, perceptions of quality of life were charted as well as satisfaction with own 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 terms of, for instance, money and energy), ability to move, satisfaction with various things in life (e.g. quality of sleep), and negative feelings.

Background variables included, among others, the household size, type of municipality of residence, region of residence, hospital district, and disposable income of the household as well as the respondent's year of retirement, latest occupation, gender, marital status, age group, and level of education (3-level ISCED classification).

Keywords

activities of daily living; care of the elderly; elderly; family policy; health; health policy; health services; home help; housing for the elderly; informal care; living conditions; quality of life; satisfaction; social networks; social services; social welfare; welfare policy; well-being (health)

Topic Classification

Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
Health care services and policies (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Specific social services: use and availability (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Welfare and Services in Finland

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

Nieminen, Markku (Statistics Finland)
Nyberg, Riina (Statistics Finland)

Time Period Covered

2009

Collection Dates

2009-09-16 – 2009-12-04

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 80 years or older residing permanently in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Systematic random

A totally new sample was formed by randomly selecting 600 persons, aged 80 or older and living independently, from the population database of Statistics Finland. 373 interviews were successfully conducted.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview: Paper-and-pencil (PAPI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Weighting

The dataset contains weights that correct for the bias caused by non-response. Expansion and sampling weights were created for each unit of observation by using a calibration method. The starting point for this method is the creation of a base weight, i.e. the inverse of a sampling unit's inclusion probability. In calibration, the base weights are adjusted so that certain known distributions of the population can be estimated without errors by using the new, so-called calibration weights. The calibration corrects for the effects of the coverage error caused by both non-response and ageing of the panel members. The weights were calibrated by age group (80-84, 85-89 and 89+), gender, province, and statistical grouping of municipalities (rural, densely populated and urban municipalities). The expansion weight BV8A expands the data to represent the population. The sampling weight was scaled from the expansion weight so that its mean is 1.00 and that it sums to the number of respondents.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Moisio, Pasi (National Institute for Health and Welfare): Welfare and Services in Finland 2009: Face-to-Face Interviews of the Elderly [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-09-26). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2889

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Suomalaisten hyvinvointi 2010 (2010). Toim. Vaarama, Marja & Moisio, Pasi & Karvonen, Sakari. Helsinki: Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos. URN:NBN:fi-fe201205085398

HYPA 2009 - kyselyn aineistonkuvaus [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos. http://www.thl.fi/documents/10531/168099/Koululaisen_turvaverkko_2013.pdf [viitattu 4.6.2014]

Related Publications

Palomäki, Liisa-Maria (2013). Eläkkeelle siirtyminen ja subjektiivinen taloudellinen hyvinvointi. Tulomuutosten ja toimeentulokokemusten tarkastelua. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 78 (4), 378 - 394.