Other projects
DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIC ACTIVITY
Development of voluntary work and, more widely, civic activity has been a popular theme in society, in the two most recent Finnish Government Programmes, for example. The universities of applied sciences have also taken note of this issue. This area of expertise contains plenty of unanswered questions and many challenges (such as quality, risks, recruiting, aging of the population) as well as needs for a specifically planned material. Thus, there is lot of work to be done on national and local level.
The objective of the project is to improve the preconditions of voluntary work by developing new operating methods and other products. The experts of the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences are involved in various networks of civic activity and also organise training in this field. They also take part in producing new products in cooperation with several partners.
The project was also included in the creation of “Vertaistoiminta KANNATTAA” (“On Peer Support”) publication. The book consists of nine different articles with key issues including such as the theory, practice and importance of peer activities. The book includes plenty of practical information for professional and voluntary workers on how to initiate and implement peer activities.
The authors of the book underline the need for cooperation between professionals and voluntary workers when developing peer activities. The book is an excellent text book for organizing peer activities. The book can be downloaded in pdf format.
DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE PRACTICES IN SATAKUNTA
The project is based on the needs for developing regional mental health care and initiations set forth from the practical point of view. The plans for mental health care and substance abuse services are in their preparation phase. The staff of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences is involved in new project planning and supports regional projects already in their beginning phase. Satakunta has its own mental hospital with a long tradition of mental health care. Material of this tradition has been collected and it is now being analysed in this project.
The objective of the project is to develop mental health care in view of local needs, national development trends and international possibilities.
The project is realized in different networks in the field of mental health care.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION SERVICES WITHIN THE HEALTH CARE SECTOR
The objective of this project is to develop a model for physical education counselling to be used in the health care sector. The target group of the project consists of individuals of working age with metabolic syndrome and/or a risk of having type two diabetes. A specific service chain for physical education has been created during the project: a health care nurse identifies a person with no habits of exercising, sends him/her to a complete physical examination performed by a physician, which, in turn, gives a referral for the client to see a physiotherapist and have practical counselling. Supported by the physiotherapist, the client sets the objectives for changing his or her behaviour and creates a physical education programme. In addition, the client considers the possibilities of and tries out different exercise routines as these are available in the third sector .
In this project, a proposal for contacting these persons with no physical exercise habits and for increasing physical activity has been drafted to be used in the health care sector. Cooperation with different health care sectors and occupational health care services has also been planned during this project. The participants should naturally be interested in developing their physical education services. At the moment, cooperation has been active especially with Satakunnan työterveyshuolto (Satakunta occupational health care). The purpose of the cooperation is to utilize the results gained in previous projects and create a permanent, practical and assessable physical education model for use in health care centres and occupational health care services. The possible follow-up project will focus on promoting the use of a seamless physical activity service chain in third sector services.
WOUND CARE AND DEVELOPMENT OF WOUND CARE EDUCATION
One of the key objectives of this project is to increase expertise in wound care among students and care professionals in relation to regional, national and international research, standards and guidelines and to promote the adoption of these in nursing. The project specifically focuses on developing wound care and wound care education in cooperation with regional nursing professionals and national operators. In addition and in connection with this project, joint projects and subjects for degree and post-graduate degree theses are also searched.
In connection with the wound care study programme and its variety of training, several high-quality development projects have been implemented in Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. These projects have significant importance in developing nursing communities and regional wound care. Thus, there is a great need to further develop wound care studies and create regional and national cooperation with various actors in the field of wound care. This cooperation has had an excellent start, showcased in the Conference of the European Wound Management Association (EWMA), where three posters produced by our students were presented in spring 2009. One of these posters was awarded by the conference organiser EWMA.
RESEARCH PROJECT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES AS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROMOTERS IN FINNISH CHILD HEALTH CLINICS
The objective of this research project was, firstly, to explore and describe the role of public health nurses in promoting physical activity for families and children below school age. Another objective was to publish the results obtained in this study on national and international level as an example of public health care practices to provide a basis for health promotion development and evaluation.
The study results revealed that physical activity promotion is child-centred despite the family-centred objectives set for the public health care. The topics included motor development, physical activity and fundamental physical skills of the child as well as general activity level of the family. The evaluative work was systematic: activation of motor development and basic physical skills seemed to realize especially well. Activation and support, however, required some development actions. Rural public health nurses felt that they had the best options for promoting individual physical activity thanks to their knowledge of their client families. Public health nurses also identified development needs in promoting their activation and support work.
By October 2009, a doctoral dissertation in sport pedagogy and several other publications has been published in this project. The figure below describes these publications by publication type. Scientific publications include only publications subject to peer review (referee process).
Further information:
www.spectrumofteachingstyles.org/colleagues/19
dissertations.jyu.fi/studsport/9789513936341.pdf
GUIDANCE FOR PATIENTS WITH HIP FRACTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE WORK IN SATAKUNTA
This research project was initiated in cooperation with the Satakunta Hospital District and Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, with the objective of describing and determining high-quality guidance for patients, how this guidance is implemented and what kind of competence is required in guidance work. Another objective was to determine development methods for multidisciplinary guidance for patients with hip fracture. The research focuses on the following issues: 1) Identification of high-quality guidance for patients with hip fracture; 2) Determination of competence requirements for nursing staff offering guidance for patients with hip fracture; 3) Implementation of guidance for patients with hip fracture; 4) Development of guidance for patients with hip fracture. In addition to considering educational aspects of these issues, they are also examined from the point of view of patients/clients, close relatives and nursing staff/experts.
LAPSOS - Welfare services and psychosocial support for families with children
The project was implemented during 2005-2008. The key objective for this project was to examine and develop operating methods in multidisciplinary cooperation for psychosocial support and early intervention among families with children. Another objective was to create a positive operating environment in an educational and institutional setting. The project focused on families with children living in the Northern Pori health clinic area. The target group consisted of maternity and child health clinic patients, i.e. children and their families. In Mari-Pori area, the target group also included 1st and 2nd grade pupils and their families.
www.samk.fi/lapsos