In spring of 2025, the Design for Government students will be cooperating in two projects. The first project focuses on Open governance for an age-friendly Finland together with the Ministry of Finance; the second explores how continuity of knowledge could support a future continuity of care model in the Finnish healthcare with Kela, and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
OPEN GOVERNMENT FOR AN AGE FRIENDLY FINLAND
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
The Open Government Action Plan 2023–2027 is a living document that captures Finland’s commitment to transparency, participation, and inclusivity, among other values. The action plan emphasises the need for innovative responses to societal challenges, particularly including vulnerable groups, to realise these values in practice. Finland has the third largest proportion of the +65 population in the world. In addition to forming a growing age group, the population is now living significantly longer. This large age group face barriers to participation in governance and civic life. The Ministry of Finance wants to explore targeted approaches to ensure that the needs of this growing demographic cohort are more effectively integrated into the work and outcomes of government policies.
Main questions:
- How can open government principles be tailored to address the unique needs of older adults?
- How can open government tools and principles be adapted to foster digital inclusion among elderly citizens?
- What does meaningful engagement look like for elderly citizens?
Image source: https://opengov.fi/
CONTINUITY OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE IN FINLAND
KELA AND THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH
Continuity of Care is an ongoing, multiyear collaboration between Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, and Aalto’s Design for Government (DfG) course. The project will build upon last year’s collaboration focused on the Omalääkäri, or “Personal Doctor” service delivery concept. The Finnish healthcare system is burdened by long lines and unequal access to care, with rising costs and a need for improvement. To explore possible interventions, this year’s work focuses on finding principles and insights on how “Continuity of Knowledge” can support a continuity of care model across care organisations and provide more effective value-based healthcare for +65 demographic groups living in Finland.
Image source: https://stm.fi/
Main questions:
- How does continuity of knowledge support a continuity of care healthcare model?
- What are the most critical gaps working against continuity?
- How do citizens, healthcare, and social care professionals contribute to knowledge creation?
- What knowledge is currently not being recorded or utilized?
- How can current information systems and knowledge practices enable effective care decisions?
- How do multi-morbidity challenges benefit from continuity of knowledge?
If you want to find out more about the design process or the tools we use during the course, you can check previous coursework and upcoming updates on our blog.