Kuntoutuksen ammattihenkilöiden huolet digitaalisessa asiakastyössä

Authors

• Venla Karikumpu The wellbeing services county of North Savo; Department of Nursing Science, University of Eastern Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2168-9199
• Tuulikki Vehko Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0034-8379
• Mari Kansanen The wellbeing services county of North Savo
• Ulla-Mari Kinnunen Department of Health and Social Management, University of Eastern Finland; The wellbeing services county of North Savo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3610-3998
• Marja Äijö Savonia University of Applied Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9325-6966
• Virpi Jylhä The wellbeing services county of North Savo; Department of Health and Social Management, University of Eastern Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0725-1414

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.156693

Keywords:

surveys and questionnaires, qualitative research, digital health, rehabilitation, workforce

Abstract

The use of digital services in rehabilitation is expanding within the social and healthcare service system alongside national strategies. The increased digital client work imposes new requirements on clients and rehabilitation professionals. Therefore, more information is needed about the role of digital services in rehabilitation. Timely and pathway-integrated digital services can achieve multiple benefits. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the concerns experienced by rehabilitation professionals regarding digital client work.
The expert informants in the study were rehabilitation professionals at the Wellbeing Services County of North Savo. The data consisted of responses to an open-ended question about concerns related to digital client work, which was included in an information system survey. The electronic survey was open from December 2024 to January 2025, and 61 rehabilitation professionals responded to the open-ended question. The analysis was carried out using data-driven content analysis. Four unifying categories were formed from the analysed simplified expressions (n=162), each containing 3–4 main classes.
The results indicate that rehabilitation professionals have concerns about digital client work. The concerns identified in the results related to technology and devices, digitally conducted assessment, the implementation of digital rehabilitation work, and user-related issues reflect the specific characteristics of rehabilitation work. Healthcare organizations should particularly consider the difficulties in assessing clients’ functional capacity and the interaction in digital rehabilitation services. The best way to achieve this is by involving rehabilitation professionals in developing digital services and digital client work, ensuring that the services are targeted at situations where they provide benefits.