Service centre group activities, day activities for the elderly and short-term care will open in June

Services for the elderly and informal care receivers will be gradually opened from 1 June onwards. Activities cannot yet be opened up widely. The services that can be opened up are targeted at the customers who need the most support and they will be contacted separately.

- Unfortunately, activities cannot yet be fully opened up. We will start lifting the closures very moderately and we will closely monitor the direction in which the coronavirus situation is developing, says Service district director Soili Partanen.

All operations are carried out in strict accordance with protective measures and hygiene instructions. Customers and employees will use surgical mouth-nose protection, ensure good hand hygiene and maintain safe distances.

We will inform separately when we can open more services.

Service centre group activities open to those most in need

Group activities at service centres will start opening from 1 June onwards. The first to open will be small group activities to those customers who are estimated to need special support. Such customers include people with memory problems, informal care receivers and carers, as well as those suffering from loneliness and substance abuse problems. 

Group activities will open at several different service centres around the city. Customers to be invited to the small groups will be contacted separately. Service centre employees will map out the needs of each customer

- We already know quite well the customers to whom group activities will be offered. We will initially start group activities for customers who have already been involved in the activities of service centres and whose capabilities at home have changed significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, says Service district director Helena Venetvaara.

For the time being, the activities cannot be opened up to everyone. For example, service centre gyms and restaurants will remain closed.

- We will monitor the situation and report as soon as the service centres can be opened more widely. However, we are not yet in that situation, and the danger of infections in meetings is not over yet, Venetvaara continues.

Day activities for the elderly

Day activities for the elderly will start on 1 June in the City of Helsinki’s own units. Daytime activities will also be opened initially primarily for those customers who need special support. Participants in the day activities will be individually invited to join the groups.

The program of the day activity groups is tailored to the needs and wishes of the customers, following the restrictions in force.

Relief for informal carers - short-term care places will be opened

Short-term care facilities important to informal carers informal care families will be opened from 1 June onwards. 

- We will be contacting informal care families whose situations we know to be particularly strained. Informal care families can also contact their designated worker, says Director of assessment operations Tuulikki
Siltari.

- The coronavirus pandemic has been tough on informal carers, as a large part of the services have been closed for a long time. It is really great that we are now at the point where the services can already be opened carefully, Siltari continues.

Visiting instructions for senior centres, service houses and Helsinki City Hospital remain unchanged

The visiting instructions remain unchanged for the time being.

In senior centres and service houses, indoor visits can last up to an hour and there can be two visitors at a time. Outdoor visits may last up to one hour, and five visitors may be present at a time.

At Helsinki City Hospital, indoor visits can last up to 30 minutes. Two visitors are allowed at a time. Outdoor visits may last up to one hour, and five visitors may be present at a time.

All visits must also be agreed upon in advance. During both indoor and outdoor visits, a surgical nasal mask should be worn and protection instructions should be followed.

Detailed visiting instructions can be found on the City of Helsinki’s website https://www.hel.fi/helsinki/coronavirus-en/social-and-health/visits/

Picture: Oona Kunnasniemi 2019

Uppdated on 28.5.2021. Added: We will inform separately when we can open more services.