What about us? Functional integration of local government services as part of social and health care reform in Finland

Abstract

At the beginning of 2023, the responsibility for organizing health care, social welfare, and rescue services in Finland shifted from municipalities and joint municipal authorities to 21 wellbeing services counties. The primary aim was to strengthen the financial basis of service delivery and to guarantee equal access to health and social services. This chapter explores the interfaces between local government services and health care and social welfare services, with a particular focus on functional integration. Through social network analysis, the empirical part describes the pre-existing collaboration within service areas and the interconnections between municipal services and policy issues before the establishment of the wellbeing services counties. The results point out that a number of service chains were disrupted due to the reform, resulting in a need to re-establish viable coordination channels within municipalities; hence, the service role of the local governments has transformed from a healer of malady to a guardian of wellbeing.