Study title

Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 2002: Local Government Officers

Dataset ID Number

FSD2175

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2175

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Ikola, Rinna-Marika (University of Vaasa)

Abstract

This survey is part of the social and health services research in the Finnish Local Government 2004 research programme. The research subjects were administration, service provision, and development policies of home help and municipal services for the elderly and the disabled. The respondents were local government officers responsible for home help services and services for the elderly and the disabled in research municipalities. Social services for the elderly and the disabled have also been researched in 1997 and 2000.

First, the service provision of municipal services for the elderly and the disabled was charted. Questions covered how many clients there were within home help and social services for the elderly and the disabled at the end of 2001, whether there were queues for treatment, and which bodies provided the different home help services and services for the elderly and the disabled. Views on satisfaction with the services, competitive tendering, using outsourced services, and whether the respondents' municipalities sold the services for the elderly and the disabled to outside bodies were surveyed. Opinions on the changes in the services for the elderly and the disabled after the year 2000 were queried. The respondents were also asked to evaluate the present state of the services, and whether special needs clients had been taken into account in training personnel and planning and maintaining the service facilities for the elderly and the disabled, as well as for home help.

In relation to management and decision-making, the respondents were asked which elected body was in charge of services for the elderly and the disabled and home help in their municipalities. Views on the significance of that elected body and the impact of different bodies on the municipal services for the elderly and the disabled were also probed. The respondents were asked how important various duties and responsibilities were in their position as the person in charge of services for the elderly and the disabled, and whether they had enough power in deciding on central matters regarding the services.

Views on the use of client surveys and development policies for the future were explored. The respondents were also asked whether there were any ongoing reforms or experiments related to home help or services for the elderly and the disabled in their municipalities. Finally, the respondents were asked to name two central challenges or problems in developing services for the elderly and the disabled and home help.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, job title, work experience, and basic education.

Keywords

care of the disabled; care of the elderly; decision making; development; health services; home help; local government; local government officers; local government services; management; social services

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Specific social services: use and availability (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social welfare systems/structures (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government 2004

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Ikola, Rinna-Marika (University of Vaasa)

Data Producers

• Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities

Time Period Covered

2002

Collection Dates

2002-09 – 2002-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Political-administrative area (Municipality)

Universe

Finnish municipalities (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities.

The project municipalities were selected separately from those with less than 10,000 inhabitants (28 municipalities) and from those with more than 10,000 inhabitants (19 municipalities). The selection aimed to be representative within both groups in relation to all municipalities with the same population size. Large municipalities were over-represented because 70% of the Finnish population lives in large municipalities. Representativeness criteria included regional location, age and education of the population, industry structure, municipal economy parameters, political situation, and variables related to municipal policy. The selected municipalities form a small scale model of all Finnish municipalities. The Åland Islands municipalities were excluded because of special features resulting from Åland's autonomy.

The questionnaire was sent to local government officers responsible for home help and services for the elderly and the disabled in the selected municipalities (N=99). 76 of them responded.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

76.8

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

Related Datasets

FSD2170 Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 1997: Local Government Officers

FSD2172 Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 1997: Managers of Service Institutions

FSD2173 Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 2000: Local Government Officers

FSD2174 Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 2000: Managers of Service Institutions

FSD2176 Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 2002: Managers of Service Institutions

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

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

Ikola, Rinna-Marika (University of Vaasa): Finnish Local Government 2004: Social Services for Elderly and Disabled 2002: Local Government Officers [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-23). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2175

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 Publications

Ikola, Rinna-Marika (2003). Vanhus- ja vammaishuolto uusien haasteiden edessä. Helsinki: Suomen kuntaliitto. KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 41 & Acta; 160.