Eva Rönkkö, Pensioners’ Association Eläkeläiset ry
Tuulikki Hakala, Associaton of Carers in Helsinki and Vantaa
Meri Kulmala, SOSKIELI research project, University of Helsinki
Antero Olakivi, SOSKIELI research project, University of Helsinki
People are moving from one country to another more and more for different reasons. As a result of migration, the Finnish population is becoming more diverse. These changes are also reflected in the ageing population. The population of older people with foreign background is growing exceptionally fast in Finland by international standards (Ciobanu et al. 2017). The population projection for foreign language speaking population in the Helsinki region 2018-2035 shows that the population of older people from linguistic minorities will triple over the next fifteen years.
This change creates pressure on public services for older people, as existing services are not adequate to provide support for service users from a wide range of backgrounds. In the current situation, a growing number of older people from linguistic minorities look to NGOs to help them navigate the service system – a change clearly visible in the field of third sector organisations.
The Nordic welfare state has long been based on the principles of universal access to services and equality. However, many other-language service users are left without a service that meets their needs, even if they are entitled to one.
In the research literature, Suvi Keskinen (2012), for example, has written about the so-called paradox of universal treatment, which on the one hand avoids stigmatising people as different, but on the other hand ignores the different life situations of service users and the resulting differences in access to services.
Vertical and horizontal diversity
From the point of view of elderly service users from linguistic minorities, there are clear shortcomings in the functioning of the Finnish service system. For example, a recent report on the realisation of the rights of older persons, submitted to the Finnish government by Claudia Mahler, an expert of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, states that the human rights of older persons belonging to linguistic and cultural minorities are not realised in the current Finnish service system (Human Rights Centre 2023). The rapid digitalisation of services does not bode well for the near future either.
The rights of older people belonging to minorities are in danger of not being realised, both for new migrants and for older minorities. The needs of the elderly of Europe’s only indigenous population, the Sami, do not always fall easily into the frames of the service system; the same applies to the Roma minority.
The perception of the Finnish elderly population as homogeneous, mainly Finnish or Swedish speaking elderly people, is reflected in the service system. Older people from linguistic and cultural minorities are not recognised and do not become seen. Politicians and service providers have gradually become more sensitive to the vertical diversity of the elderly population, i.e., the large age range of people who are elderly, but the horizontal diversity remains hidden. By horizontal diversity, we mean the linguistic and cultural diversity of a single age group, for example the 60-70 years old.
The many roles of organisations
In today’s Finland, organisations do important work for older people from linguistic and cultural minorities, for example, by advocating for their rights and interests, offering support in their daily lives and in their dealings with the service system, and providing services. This becomes reflected in the broad range of societal roles played by organisations.
On the one hand, the purpose of organisations is to provide an arena for their members to make their voices heard in society. They have a role to play in promoting social justice and solidarity. Advocacy work aimed at provoking change is by its very nature conflict-generating, as change cannot take place without the service system recognising the need for it (e.g., Ilmonen 1998). On the other hand, organisations also provide services. The demands for efficiency in the welfare state have also led to the development of a so-called new third sector which is becoming part of the public service structure by providing and selling services (Pyykkonen 2023).
Alongside the traditional organisations that have already been identified by and negotiated their place in the public service system, new associations have emerged because of migration, focusing, for example on supporting older people from linguistic minorities in their daily lives. These associations also deal directly with services on behalf of the service user, for example in navigating the digitalised public social and health services, which – without the help of third parties – would, in practice, exclude many older service users from different linguistic minorities completely from the service system (e.g., Buchert & Wrede 2021; Buchert et al. 2022). These challenges emerge prominently in the SOSKIELI research project and are also highlighted in the above-mentioned UN report on the realisation of human rights of older people in Finland.
However, the work of these organisations which promote the interests of minority groups, often remains in the so-called informal grey area between the formal and informal service systems. Their role thus remains unrecognised and unacknowledged. Even if the expertise of organisations supporting marginalised clients is valued, their role as intermediaries between their clientele and the service system is not recognised in the structures of the system. This situation is made untenable by the fact that the service system does not reach out to the ‘new’ members of society and there is no ‘space’ in the service system for policy change or outreach work, whereby help is sought from the organisational field.
At least at the level of strategies, public services are currently seeking to strengthen cooperation with the voluntary sector. This is a good development, but it also requires the identification of the main challenges and the will to address or accept them as part of the cooperation.
Tensions and challenges
From an organisational perspective, at least three main challenges can be identified in the cooperation between the formal service system and NGOs. One of them is the identification of the different roles of public services and the third sector. The role and tasks of public services are determined by legislation, while the activities of organisations are based on their autonomy. Organisations define their own tasks and objectives. Ideally, partnerships between organisations and the formal service system are based on equal negotiations and agreements on the content and rules of cooperation. In reality, the tasks of associations in cooperation are often predetermined.
The second challenge relates to the role of lobbying by associations. At its best, cooperation can make use of the organisations’ understanding of the clientele, which can be used to jointly develop the functionality and accessibility of services. However, the advocacy work of organisations that challenges the public service system may also lead to shying away from cooperation.
A third challenge relates to the use of the expertise available within organisations in a way that may hide their role. Municipalities are interested and happy to use the work and expertise of organisations to reach and support people, but the result may be that the groundwork done by organisations in highlighting the needs for development or solutions remains invisible.
Explanations and looking ahead
There are many explanations for these tensions. The main one is that cooperation strategies lack the structural reforms that would allow for genuine cooperation outside the framework of the Purchasing Service Partnerships. Other forms of cooperation would need to be based, for example, on negotiated cooperation agreements that clarify the roles, tasks and resources of all the parties.
The negotiation of cooperation should also consider the multiple power asymmetries between the different parties, in terms of operational resources, knowledge management and recognition of expertise. Third sector organisations are often dependent on premises provided by the municipalities and on their funding, which has an important impact on the way possible problems or challenges can be raised into the discussion. A persistent lack of mutual knowledge about each other’s activities has been identified as one of the challenges of cooperation between organisations and municipalities (e.g., Mykrä & Varjonen 2013; Viirkorpi 2013), which can also turn into distrust.
When embarking on various projects, both municipalities and organisations should take a close look at what has already been done, regardless of the sector. Resources should not be used to reinvent the wheel, but to work together to develop tried and tested models and gather resources for new openings. Both organisations and municipalities should bear in mind that they often offer services to the same service users, so the division between ‘your’ and ‘our’ service users is artificial. The well-being of people is the common interest of both. This is a good basis for building cooperation and partnership while recognising the roles and responsibilities of both.
References
Buchert, U., Kemppainen, L., Olakivi, A., Wrede, S. & Kouvonen, A. 2022. Is digitalisation of public health and social welfare services reinforcing social exclusion? The case of Russian-speaking older migrants in Finland. Critical Social Policy, ennakkojulkaisu.
Buchert, U. & Wrede, S. 2021. ‘Bridging’ and ‘fixing’ endangered social rights in the digitalising welfare state. Teoksessa H. Hirvonen, M. Tammelin, R. Hänninen & E. J. M. Wouters (toim.), Digital Transformations in Care for Older People (s. 54–71). Routledge.
Ciobanu, R. O., Fokkema, T. & Nedelcu, M. 2017. Ageing as a migrant: Vulnerabilities, agency and policy implications. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43(2), 164–181.
Ilmonen, K. 1998. Uudet ja vanhat yhteiskunnalliset liikkeet. Teoksessa K. Ilmonen & M. Siisiäinen (toim.), Vanhat ja uudet liikkeet. Vastapaino.
Keskinen, S. 2012. Kulttuurilla merkityt toiset ja universaalin kohtelun paradoksi väkivaltatyössä. Teoksessa S. Keskinen, J. Vuori & A. Hirsiaho (toim.), Monikulttuurisuuden sukupuoli: kansalaisuus ja erot hyvinvointiyhteiskunnassa (s. 291–320). Tampere University Press.
Mykrä, P. & Varjonen, E. 2013. Järjestöjen ja kuntien yhteistyö Raha-automaattiyhdistyksen näkökulmasta. Teoksessa K. Häkkilä & M. Tourula (toim.), Järjestöt ja kunta hyvinvointia edistämässä. Näkökulmia järjestö-kuntayhteistyöhön (s. 22–34). SOSTE Suomen sosiaali ja terveys ry.
Viirkorpi, P. 2013. Tietoisuuden ja asenteiden muutos. Teoksessa K. Häkkilä & M. Tourula (toim.), Järjestöt ja kunta hyvinvointia edistämässä. Näkökulmia järjestö-kuntayhteistyöhön (s. 66–75). SOSTE Suomen sosiaali ja terveys ry.