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VESOTE Effective Life-style Counselling for Social and Health Care Cross-Functionally

The VESOTE program reinforces and develops effective and target-based lifestyle counselling in social and health care. The development activities emphasise physical activity, nutrition and sleep. The final goal of the program is for Finns to be more physically active, sit less, eat a varied and healthy diet and sleep better.

Program duration 2017–2018. There are over 4 million inhabitants and 184 municipalities in the area covered by the VESOTE program.

VESOTE is funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. It is one of the programs in Leading project: Promoting health and well-being and reducing inequality / putting good practices into permanent use.

Goals 

  • Adopting and reinforcing effective and high-quality lifestyle counselling operating models.
  • Developing lifestyle counselling expertise.
  • Utilising and spreading best practices.
  • Reinforcing the multi-functionality and multi-professionality of lifestyle counselling.
  • Utilising the expertise and experience of the third sector in lifestyle counselling

Activities 

  • Regional and web-based training for professionals:
  • – bringing up the topic of lifestyle behaviours
  • – counselling on physical activity, nutrition, sleep and treatment of sleep disorders without medication.
  • Developing and reinforcing treatment and service chains.
  • Creating regional co-operation networks.
  • Objective monitoring of physical activity and sleep, as well as utilising information in lifestyle counselling.
  • Assessing the effectiveness of lifestyle counselling.

The diverse activities of the program are implemented at different levels simultaneously. 10 regional operators have defined their own lifestyle counselling development activities and target groups.

The effective, high-quality development activities will form a virtual lifestyle counselling clinic that will include lifestyle counselling tools and methods for professionals. A lifestyle service palette will also be created for the clinic, which will help professionals direct the customer onto the lifestyle counselling path.

National operators 

The main responsibility and administration lie with the UKK Institute. 

National co-operator organisations 

  • Fit ,for Life Program / LIKES Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health 
  • Finnish Diabetes Association 
  • Finnish Central Association for Mental Health 

National experts 

  • sleep and the treatment of sleep disorders: Helsingin Uniklinikka – Vitalmed Oy 
  • nutrition: Pirkanmaa Hospital District 

Regional co-operators 

Health Care Districts 

  • South Karelia Social and Health Care District
  • The Hospital District of South Ostrobothnia
  • The South Savo Social and Health Care Authority
  • The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa
  • Kainuu Social and Health Care Joint Authority
  • Pirkanmaa Hospital District
  • Joint municipal authority for North Karelia social and health services
  • The Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District
  • Satakunta hospital district /The social services and healthcare centre of Pori
  • The Hospital District of Southwest Finland

Regional Physical Activity Organizations 

  • South Ostrobothnia 
  • Päijät Häme 

In addition, the following will also participate in the activities in each hospital district 

  • The social and health care operators of municipalities, as well as physical activity and leisure services
  • Physical activity and social and health organisations

Contacts 

Tommi Vasankari 
Director, UKK Institute 
tommi.vasankari(a)ukkinstituutti.fi 

Anne-Mari Jussila 
Education and Development Director, UKK Institute 
anne-mari.jussila(a)ukkinstituutti.fi 

Abstracts and Presentations 

More Effective Lifestyle guidance for Social and Health Care Cross-Functionally in Finland

Jussila AM, Sarlio S, Aalto-Nevalainen P. 
Poster in autumn 2018 

More Effective Lifestyle Guidance for Social and Health Care Cross-Functionally in Finland (pdf) 
Jussila A-M, Kivimäki S, Vasankari T. 
Presented in the 8th Conference of HEPA Europe, 15-17 November 2017, Zagreb, Croatia 

Last updated: 25.11.2020

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