Preparing social and health care services for a new era - a multidisciplinary approach in Finland

The aim of this qualitative study is to map the educational requirements and the needs of health and social care. In addition to social and health care services in the western region of Finland, the intention is to create models, possibilities and a new intensification concept for regional development within education, research and development (R&D). In phase one he data was collected in the form of a questionnaire on a regional and local level. The second phase focused on data collection using the method “Call for Papers” on a national level. The third phase was guided by the results from the former two phases. The data was collected by conducting four focus group interviews among leaders within health and social care. The data was analyzed through content analysis. The results emerging from this survey promote collaboration between the universities and universities of applied sciences, different networks, health and social care services. Furthermore, the results emphasize the need to develop interprofessional and multilingual learning environments, entrepreneurship, multi-professional R&D and a means for leadership to promote the vision of leading toward change. The results stress the need for the development of advanced teaching methods and a shift of the learning environment from a traditional approach to a new setting, i.e. a living learning environment, with a focus on practice, health promotion and holism.