[Translated to English, original blog text in Swedish, www.soskieli.fi/sv]
Emina Arnautovic, Folkhälsan
Anna Kotka-Bystedt, City of Jakobstad
Josefine Häggblom , The Wellbeing Services County of Ostrobothnia
Camilla Granholm, SOSKIELI research project, University of Helsinki
The digitalisation of public services has taken a big step forward, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Many authorities are encouraging service users to deal with their matters primarily digitally. Opportunities for telephone and face-to-face meetings are limited and, in many cases, require appointments which are made digitally.
The aim of the digitalisation of social and health care services has, for example, been to make services more accessible and to free up resources so that face-to-face services can be directed to those who need them most (STM 2023). The intention of digitalisation has thus been good, but as we have noticed during the SOSKIELI research project, digitalisation has in some cases had completely opposite effects.
In the SOSKIELI research project (2021-2023), we have spent the last two years studying the experiences of social sector practitioners, third sector representatives, and service users with the digitalisation of services. In our research, we have focused on people who do not speak Finnish or Swedish, and we have paid attention to four groups of service users: families with children, families with children with disabilities, young people, and elderly people over the age of 65. We have produced a wide range of research material through workshops where we discussed with social service practitioners and third sector representatives about their experiences of encounters between the service system and other-language service users. We have interviewed service users and observed multilingual service provision at a third sector organisation.
One of the employees who participated in our workshops noted that the threshold for using digital services independently is high because service users are afraid of making a mistake. In the digital world a small error or mistake can have major consequences, such as loss of support or overpayment of money. Correcting errors or mistakes is difficult and often time-consuming and requires good language skills and knowledge of how the benefit system works.
One result of our research is that digital services make users dependent on external help. Since, for example, Kela and social welfare offices have limited capacity to provide face-to-face guidance on completing benefit applications online, service users turn to third sector organisations. Most third sector organisations are reliable and have trained staff with a high level of expertise, but if they are run by volunteers, there may be gaps in expertise. Another challenge is the financial uncertainty that plagues organisations operating on public grants and donations. The absence of a grant or a decrease in donations may mean that the organisation must cut back on the services it offers, which means that users who have been using the service have to look for other sources for help. Our research revealed that service users primarily turn to relatives and friends for help in managing their affairs digitally, but we also heard stories of people turning to strangers who they heard speaking their language on the street. Most official matters handled online require a login with bank codes, and when the login is done with the help of a third party, this represents a major data security risk jeopardising the service user’s integrity as they disclose sensitive information about themselves to a stranger.
From digital to multidimensional
During our workshops and meetings with service users, we have discussed how online services should be improved and developed to make them more accessible to people who do not speak Finnish or Swedish. One thing that has become clear is that the ability to receive face-to-face guidance, help and support is extremely important for people who do not speak the language of the service system. With the language of the service system, we mean both the linguistic and administrative languages. Moving to a more flexible, multidimensional approach (Granholm 2016), where instead of an either/or logic, service users could always choose between handling their affairs independently and digitally or face-to-face with an expert, would benefit both service users and providers.
The level of support needed by different service users varies, some manage with light guidance, while others need more extensive help and support in navigating the service system. Several of the service users involved in our research are multilingual, some have university education, others have been successful entrepreneurs in their home countries, most use email, social media and communicate easily via instant messaging services, and many are able to verbally manage everyday matters in Finnish or Swedish. The challenge may be a lack in literacy skills in Finnish or Swedish or unfamiliarity with the bureaucratic language of the Finnish welfare system. Other service users have no or poor literacy skills in their native language, some suffer from cognitive challenges or have symptoms of post-traumatic stress. These people need more support and guidance to manage their affairs digitally.
When improving existing and developing completely new digital services in the future, it is important to pay attention to making the services linguistically simple and intuitive to navigate. For example, by making applications editable for a certain period after they have been submitted, some errors and mistakes could be avoided, which could help users to use digital services more independently and freely. From the point of view of data security and the privacy of service users, it is important that the public sector offers professional guidance on the use of online services and that interpretation into the user’s own language is available in the guidance sessions.
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