Asiakasturvallisuus vanhuspalveluissa

Authors

• Heli Valokivi Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Helena Hirvonen Itä-Suomen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30668/janus.114433

Abstract

This article assesses how client safety is defined in policy documents concerning aging and services for older people. Recent public scandals concerning shortages in the quality of care for older people call for investigating the services from the viewpoint of client safety. The article approaches client safety as a question of intersubjective, organisational and institutional trust. The results show that defining client safety in relation to patient safety is an ongoing process in the context of eldercare. Moreover, client safety is understood in the documents primarily as service providers’ responsibility to develop safety culture and as development of technology-assisted means to improve client safety at home. These measures are expected to prevent clients’ feelings of insecurity. However, attention should also be given to stability in interpersonal care relationships, since it reinforces interpersonal trust between clients and service providers, and provides the foundation to build organisational and institutional trust towards the service system.