New Locality – a way for better care for the elderly

Pirkko Ruuskanen-ParrukoskiThe Finnish Federation of Settlements

The voluntary sector in the Nordic countries. Change agents and contract partners?

May 18 – 20 2011, Bergen

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The Finnish Federation of Settlements

• The traditional methods of settlement work include social services, training, recreational activities and social reforms like nurseries.

• In social work, the settlement movement ideologically emphasizes mutual support and reciprocity, as well as necessity of social change. Individual help is not enough; there is a call for public and communal responsibility.

• The settlement movement represents social justice as opposed to the idea of moral responsibility of the individual emphasized by the charity tradition.

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The Finnish Federation of SettlementsThe Finnish Federation of Settlements

• Founded in 1918

• A life course organisation which does cultural and social work.

• Federation constitutes of 36 local Settlements and of 8 Settlement Youth district organisations all over Finland.

• Over 3 000 professionals and many volunteers work within the settlement movement.

• A member of International Federation of Settlements (IFS)

• The activities lie on the ground of work in Toynbee Hall, London and Jane Addams, Hull House Chicago

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Two projects to develop activities in response to changing local needs

1. Time for a new locality• aiming to influence the structure of decision-making and

cooperation.

2. The third sector in welfare services – how care provided for old people by the settlements impacts their quality of life and how they experience the settlement features

• aiming to gain knowledge about the role and efficiency of the third sector in welfare services- aiming to influence the quality the welfare services in the settlement movement- PhD thesis

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WHY?

Legacy of locality

Welfare state – decentralizer of services

Centralizing competition state

A new logic

Defeat of citizens’ geography.

Difficulties for NGOs

Orphanhood of local communities

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Time for a New Locality

Finnish Federation of Settlements’ project “Time for a new locality” is based on cooperation between NGOs, enterprises, municipalities and universities in three local communities.

The goal is to seek tools to re-strengthen the locally based civil societyby developing tools for citizens to affect services, land use and recreational opportunities in their own communities by reorganizing the relationships between local communities and municipalities as well as systemizing a forum for cooperation between NGOs.

Representatives from the municipalities take part in the project from the start because one of the central aims of new locality is to build an effective connection between the level of local/ grass-root communities and the level of municipal decision-making

The project has received funding from RAY (Finland’s Slot Machine Association) for the years 2011-2015

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Locality promotes quality of life also for the elderly

There is a need to respond to the changing local needs of care in a way that equal possibilities, choices and opportunities are created also for the elderly to enhance their quality of life.

The New Locality project includes various themes for starting points such as- organizing local community services in an increasing cooperation between NGOs, micro businesses and municipalities - promoting health- developing new meeting places for the residents “settlement houses, neighborhood centers”

For the elderly locality would mean possibilities to reduce loneliness and insecurity by improving social capital, to take part in increasing free-time activities but also to influence the organizing of home care, housing and small-scale institutional care close to one’s home. This is a matter of decision-making, cooperation and innovation.

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REFERENCES

Henk, Nies et al (2010) Quality management and Quality Assurance in Long-Term Care. European Overview Paper. Interlinks.http://www.euro.centre.org/interlinks. 28.3.2011.

Katajamäki, Hannu (2011). Time for a new locality. Starting points for a development project. The Finnish Federation of Settlements. Helsinki. 

Vaarama, Marja & Pieper, Richard & Sixmith Andrew (2008). Care-Realatd Quality of Life in Old Age. Concepts, Models and Empirical Findings. Springer. NY

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New Locality – a way for better care for the elderlyPirkko Ruuskanen-Parrukoski

The Finnish Federation of Settlements

TAKK!

THANK YOU!

KIITOS!