I get old, therefore I am? : Multilevel, value-driven perspective on the future of informal care and home care of the elderly in Finland
Puikkonen, Jenna (2017-11-21)
I get old, therefore I am? : Multilevel, value-driven perspective on the future of informal care and home care of the elderly in Finland
Puikkonen, Jenna
(21.11.2017)
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Turun yliopisto
Tiivistelmä
Megatrend of aging population has significant, structure changing effects in the society. Due to changing age structure, new policies and practices are needed. Importance of the megatrend has been recognized also in one of the Finnish government’s key strategic projects: The “Home care for older people will be developed and informal care enhanced in all age groups” key project focuses on the needs of the aging population. As a part of the key project, public feedback has been collected via Otakantaa.fi webpage. In this thesis, feedback given by 221 respondents was analyzed.
This thesis addresses concrete issues in elderly care, examines future orientation of the data and dives below the surface of the discussion. Aim was to study how better consideration of values, worldviews and prevailing myths and metaphors could be of help in creating more legitimate future policies. The overall aim was to illustrate the complex system dynamics between micro-level of citizens and meso-level of public policy making, and bring new dimensions to the discussion concerning social and health care needs of the elderly. Therefore, based on systems thinking, Multilevel perspective (MLP) on transition, citizen involvement in public policy-making and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) method, a conceptual framework for this study was generated.
The results indicate that there is a lot of room for development in informal care and home care of the elderly. Various wishes for future elderly services were found in regards with the needs of the elderly, role of informal caregivers and home care personnel and current health care system in general. From the data, it was also identified that the future of elderly care does not seem too bright: attitudes towards aging can be interpreted to consist of a complex package of fear, uncertainty and despair. More positive futures could be created by taking various concerns into account, both in more concrete level but also in regards with the general attitudinal atmosphere. In addition, prevailing paradoxes were identified as a part of analysis. These include for instance: 1) Dependence on and requirement for the welfare state’s support vs. distrust towards the welfare state; 2) Expectations for the welfare state vs. reality; and 3) Individualism vs. sense of community.
The analysis showed that using CLA in the analysis of public data can be of help in finding new perspectives to the issues in public policy making. Also, the integrated framework, “Multilevel, value-driven perspective on socio-political transition”, proved to be of help in illustrating the dynamics of the complex system. All in all, better consideration of values, worldviews and myths and metaphors could be of help in building up a system in which there is less polarization and confrontations. Eventually, in the long-term, value-driven public policy making could lead to a flourishing society in which everyone would be committed to do one’s part for common good.
This thesis addresses concrete issues in elderly care, examines future orientation of the data and dives below the surface of the discussion. Aim was to study how better consideration of values, worldviews and prevailing myths and metaphors could be of help in creating more legitimate future policies. The overall aim was to illustrate the complex system dynamics between micro-level of citizens and meso-level of public policy making, and bring new dimensions to the discussion concerning social and health care needs of the elderly. Therefore, based on systems thinking, Multilevel perspective (MLP) on transition, citizen involvement in public policy-making and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) method, a conceptual framework for this study was generated.
The results indicate that there is a lot of room for development in informal care and home care of the elderly. Various wishes for future elderly services were found in regards with the needs of the elderly, role of informal caregivers and home care personnel and current health care system in general. From the data, it was also identified that the future of elderly care does not seem too bright: attitudes towards aging can be interpreted to consist of a complex package of fear, uncertainty and despair. More positive futures could be created by taking various concerns into account, both in more concrete level but also in regards with the general attitudinal atmosphere. In addition, prevailing paradoxes were identified as a part of analysis. These include for instance: 1) Dependence on and requirement for the welfare state’s support vs. distrust towards the welfare state; 2) Expectations for the welfare state vs. reality; and 3) Individualism vs. sense of community.
The analysis showed that using CLA in the analysis of public data can be of help in finding new perspectives to the issues in public policy making. Also, the integrated framework, “Multilevel, value-driven perspective on socio-political transition”, proved to be of help in illustrating the dynamics of the complex system. All in all, better consideration of values, worldviews and myths and metaphors could be of help in building up a system in which there is less polarization and confrontations. Eventually, in the long-term, value-driven public policy making could lead to a flourishing society in which everyone would be committed to do one’s part for common good.