Kalajoki number one in its area in a survey that measured the well-being of senior citizens
Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat compiled an extensive study on the well-being of senior citizens in Finland, based on statistics provided by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). In the study, 295 Finnish municipalities are ranked according to how matters indicating seniors’ well-being have been realised.
The study is based on 24 kinds of statistics. The statistics were selected following the recommendations of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities for municipalities and counties regarding the services for senior citizens. (Quality recommendation to guarantee a good quality of life and improved services for older persons 2017–2019). The study is based on THL’s statistics on senior citizens of various ages. The statistics concern matters such as living alone and living at home, the numbers regarding seniors living in service housing with 24-hour assistance, the number of seniors receiving regular home care, the number of seniors receiving support for informal care, the number of seniors in long-term care in a health centre, the level of pension paid, the number of seniors receiving social assistance, the use of medication for mental health and physical health issues, visits to the hospital, mortality rates and the proportion of Finland’s population aged over 85. The statistics are from 2015–2017.
Kalajoki was ranked 45th among all Finnish municipalities
Utsjoki was the number one municipality in the ranking, while Rautjärvi, Taipalsaari and Ruokolahti also reached the top ranks.
Kalajoki’s ranking of 45th stands out among the municipalities in the region. Of Kalajoki’s nearby municipalities, only Kannus (74th) reached the top 100, while municipalities such as Kokkola, Raahe, Ylivieska, Nivala, Oulainen, Haapajärvi, Sievi and Oulu were ranked between 109th and 263rd.
Customer satisfaction is high in welfare services
Anne Mäki-Leppilampi, Kalajoki’s director of welfare services, was not surprised by the results. “The services we produce are of high quality, we do excellent preventive work with services such as the guidance centres for the elderly, and our employees are extremely skilled. As a whole, Kalajoki’s welfare services function smoothly, and the average of the customer satisfaction rating for all of our welfare services was 4.2 in 2018, which is an excellent result. It shows that people are happy.” This rating system, developed for handling feedback and data collection for municipalities and communities, uses a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 meaning ‘excellent’ and 1 meaning ‘poor’. The rating shows customer satisfaction with all welfare services of the City of Kalajoki: social and health services, early childhood education and education. Over 1,100 people from Kalajoki replied to the customer satisfaction survey. The response rate was 61.7%.
Link to the statistics compiled by Ilta-Sanomat: https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006031742.html
More information:
Anne Mäki-Leppilampi
Director of Welfare Services
Tel. +358 (0) 44 4691 546
anne.maki-leppilampi@kalajoki.fi