A116 Versatile Rehabilitation for Older People in Finland

1. The Effects of Home Rehabilitation
ANNE RAHIKKA
RESEARCH MANAGER, D.SOC.SC.
MIINA SILLANPÄÄ FOUNDATION

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The Wisdom at Senior Citizen’s Home
The Wisdom at Senior Citizen’s home was a two-year (2014-2016) research and development project.
The aims of the project were:
1) to develop a rehabilitation service concept for senior citizens
2) to implement user participation methods in the development
3) to pilot technology assisted rehabilitation as part of the project.
The project consortium consisted of Miina Sillanpää Foundation, Wilhelmiina Services Ltd., Nordic
Health Care Group Ltd., The City of Helsinki, The municipality of Sipoo, FIRA Ltd. and Wellbeing
Finland Ltd. The project was funded by Tekes - The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.

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Participants
• The research was based on practice research methodology.
• The participants of the project consisted of two subgroups: home
care customers (n=21) and elderly people who received only home
care support services (n=20).
• The home care customers had individualized assessment, the 12
weeks individual rehabilitation period and guidance from the home
care personnel.
• Home care support service customers had individualized
assessment, the 12 weeks individual rehabilitation period and
group rehabilitation.

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Methods
The individualized assessment consisted of SPPB and EuroHIS-8
• Functional capacity was measured by using Short Physical
Performance Battery (SPPB)
• Quality of life was evaluated by EuroHIS-8
• The technology applied in the research project consisted of activity
trackers and virtual group meetings.
• User experience data was collected with semi-structured interviews
and structured questionnaires.
• The user experience was also collected from the customer panels.

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Findings
• The physical activity (SPPB) and quality of life (EuroHIS-8)
improved during the 12 weeks rehabilitation period in both groups.
• Elderly people who had individual rehabilitation period and
attended group rehabilitation showed more improvement in the
SPPB and EuroHIS-8 compared to those who only did the
rehabilitation at home with the help of home care personnel.
• The activity trackers produced moderately well information about
the development of the daily activity.

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Conclusions
• It is possible to improve the physical activity of the elderly people
with the individual rehabilitation period.
• The best results are achieved by the combination of an individual
rehabilitation period and the group rehabilitation.
• The technology offers new possibilities, but there is still need for
further development in order to meet better the needs of the elderly
people.

7. Thank you!
Anne Rahikka
anne.rahikka@miinasillanpaa.fi