Elderly care initiative launched in North Savo, Finland, to address waiting list issues

In North Savo, Finland, there is a growing trend to provide elderly care services in home settings. This initiative is seen as a potential solution to one of the country’s longest waiting lists, which currently has over 300 older adults awaiting placement in residential care facilities. The welfare district is reforming its approach to residential care, housing, and home-delivered services, with a focus on community living. The goal is to ensure that post-hospital care occurs at home, with even those needing acute medical care being treated in their residences when possible, according to Mikko Korhonen, director of elderly services in the region.

Plans include establishing a dedicated discharge unit, a mobile hospital, and enhancing rehabilitation services at home. The regional council approved these plans last June. Currently, approximately 160 seniors are waiting for placement in hospitals and health centers, with about half of those awaiting residential care still living at home.

At Harjula Hospital in Kuopio, where Taina Kuronen works as a ward manager, about 40 patients are waiting for residential care, most of whom are elderly and suffer from dementia. Many are occasionally transferred to Tuusniemi, nearly 50 kilometers away, when the nearby Kuopio University Hospital needs to discharge its patients.

Kuronen mentions that the current system lacks agility, causing delays in transitioning patients from hospitals to appropriate care settings. She emphasizes that many patients could cope at home but desire the security of care facilities, often driven by feelings of loneliness.

According to Korhonen, the waiting list has formed partly because older adults in North Savo have easier access to long-term care than in other regions, a consequence of recent service structure and client guidance developments undertaken in collaboration with five welfare districts.