KEMUSOTE - Light entrepreneurship and resilience as an enhancer for conditions and work well-being in social and healthcare sector

The aim of the KEMUSOTE project was to strengthen the prerequisite for
operation of light entrepreneurs and social enterprises, their resilience,
their work wellbeing and lengthening of working careers in social and healthcare
sector. The project developed the skills of the target group and identified
services to support work wellbeing that would be suitable for both light
entrepreneurs and social enterprises. It also explored the suitability of the
cooperative model for the provision of social and healthcare services in rural
areas. The project was implemented by Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences
(main implementer), Tampere University of Applied Sciences, South-Eastern
Finland University of Applied Sciences, Turku University of Applied Sciences,
Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Laurea University of Applied
Sciences.

The project supported the resilience and entrepreneurial skills of
social and healthcare professionals through a series of workshops on seven
entrepreneurship-related topics. The online delivery of the workshops enabled
participation from a wide area around Finland. A Sotehy-entrepreneurship
workbook was developed as support material, providing information on
entrepreneurship sub-areas, especially for those who are just considering
entrepreneurship. Both a printed and an electronic version of the workbook were
produced. The printed version was sent to those who registered for the
workshops. The electronic version of the workbook, which can be freely
downloaded online, will be used in future for entrepreneurship education in
educational institutions and by various business advisory organisations.
Learning material was also produced to support the development of
entrepreneurial skills, which will remain on the project website.

Tamk developed the VirtualArvo concept to strengthen well-being at work
together with entrepreneurs in the social and healthcare sector. The
VirtuaaliArvo concept was developed using an open innovation approach in three
workshops with entrepreneurs from the social and healthcare sector and
representatives of occupational healthcare. Co-development was based on
information collected through interviews with entrepreneurs on the use,
suitability and usability of occupational health services from their
perspective. The VirtuaaliArvo concept can serve as a multifunctional
self-service platform for promoting and supporting well-being at work for those
working in the social and healthcare sector in an entrepreneurial way.
Entrepreneurs can choose the services they need from the content areas of
wellbeing at work, coping and health at the appropriate time.

Five social enterprises providing care services for the elderly and
rehabilitation work for the partially employed developed work wellbeing and new
forms of social and healthcare services. Co-development methods were used for
implementation. Activities included webinars, productisation workshops, BIKVA
interviews, staff team coaching and well-being at work surveys. Social
enterprises were supported to develop approaches to increase competences and
capacities in a changing social and health services landscape. They received
information on activities to maintain and increase their staff's ability to
work, their motivation and the meaningfulness of their work. Information on social
entrepreneurship was also disseminated (including educational material and
podcasts) with the aim of promoting social entrepreneurship as an equal form of
service delivery.

The project promoted entrepreneurship among graduates in the social
sector by providing information on social expertise and entrepreneurship. Laurea
University of Applied Sciences cooperated with Talentia Union of Professional Social Workers. The target group of the project were the
members of the Talentia, as they are best placed to become expert
entrepreneurs. The first questionnaire explored 'practical freedom and the
capacity for change in social work'. The results were discussed with the
target group in two webinars of the project. The results of the survey were
also presented at three scientific conferences. The second survey was targeted
at entrepreneurial members of the Talentia. The final publication of the
project explores the role of education and careers in social work expertise
based on the qualitative data from the first survey and the role of social
entrepreneurship based on the second survey. Based on the results of the
surveys, proposals for action to promote social work entrepreneurship were made
in order to develop services for self-employed members of professional
organisations. 

Turku AMK found that a social and health cooperative can serve as an
alternative to provide locally needed services to clients. In addition to the
value philosophy of the cooperative model (democracy, solidarity, cooperation),
the model was considered to be agile from the workers' point of view. Local
cooperatives are a source of employment and vitality for small communities. As
the demand for services increases, especially in view of the ageing population,
the welfare regions need to invest in local business. The sub-objective used a
simulated model to calculate the costs of providing social and health services
in deprived areas. The example used in the modelling was home-based services.
The results show that moving the service further away from the area served
rapidly increases the cost of serving the same number of clients. The most
cost-effective way of providing services to a rural area is to use relatively
small units located in the area to provide the service. Services can be
provided, for example, by local social cooperatives.

Humak's experts are using the model of building a diverse career and
skills management to increase understanding of entrepreneurship and diverse
careers in the social and healthcare sector. A broader understanding will
benefit both those pursuing and those transitioning to a multi-career, as well
as trainers, educational institutions and career counsellors. The model
describes the steps from wage employment to entrepreneurship, the factors that
push away from traditional wage employment and the factors that attract towards
entrepreneurship, and highlights the specificities of the social and healthcare
sector, such as the value base that influences the entrepreneurial pathway and
the strong control of the sector. At the heart of the model are the competences
required for a diversified career. Lessons and ideas from other sub-objectives
have been used to build the model.

The project's activities and results were communicated through a wide
range of channels. During the project, articles were produced for various
publications, reports, online magazines and blog platforms. Experts appeared at
various events and also produced a podcast series on social and healthcare
phenomena. The project's website www.jamk.fi/kemusote is the home base for
communication. Traffic to the website was driven through social media posts,
for example. Targeted advertising campaigns were also carried out through the
project's Facebook page www.facebook.com/kemusote. The project's communication
officer was responsible for updating the web and Facebook pages as new
information emerged from the project implementation. The communication expert
also supported the communication by producing visual and written material for the
project consortium and by reminding the consortium of the communication
activities during the monthly coordinators' meetings.  

The major changes in the project's environment, the social and healthcare
sector, coincided with the implementation of the project. The functional and
structural changes in the sector were reflected in many ways in the project's
target group, social and healthcare professionals and service providers.
Entrepreneurship in the social and healthcare sector has an important place in
our social and healthcare service system for the future and this project
succeeded in supporting it in many ways and in creating guidelines for service
delivery in welfare areas. During the project's lifetime, the constraints
imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the work and participation of the
project's target group, the social and healthcare professionals, in particular.
This situation required the project to be almost entirely implemented at a
distance, with no meetings in workshops. The development measures were
successfully adapted to the requirements of the situation. For the target
group, this change meant an increase in digital and technological skills, which
will enable and benefit the further development and improvement of social and
healthcare services.