Hanna Tuohimaa

In search of an empowering and motivating personal wellbeing pathway for Finnish heart patients.

In this article, motivation for healthy living is discussed, with a special focus on empowerment and responsibility. The individual and his or her needs and preferences are taken as the starting point with an aim to sketch a holistic picture of the elements needed in a health promotive care process from the perspective of the individual, to enhance empowerment and motivation to lead a healthy life. Health and wellbeing related services are presented as an exemplar of a structural element by which society can work as an enabler of wellbeing, taking co-responsibility of the wellbeing of the individual. It is argued that this requires that the services of public, private and third sector service providers from different fields are seamlessly connected and easy to access, with support and information available throughout the personally tailored care pathway. Also the knowhow and attitudes of all the actors must be thought of. These aspects of a good care process have been identified through interviews with heart patients and workshops with actors in a region in southern Finland, as well as based on theoretical background information and prior research. These aspects form the personal wellbeing pathway model that is presented in this article as an ideal type of a service pathway to enhance taking actively charge of one’s own wellbeing.

Participative Game Design in the Zet Project – Engaging the Youth to Enhance Wellbeing

Engagement in meaningful activities is important in supporting the youth in their wellbeing for today as well as for the future. Serious games and game design provide an interesting field for exploring the opportunities and possible benefits for activating the youth at the same time benefiting from their experiences. In this article, a game design process conducted following the principles of participatory design is presented. The article provides examples of the positive as well as the challenging aspects of engaging the youth.

Local Pilots, Virtual Tools - Experiments of Health Promotive and Inclusive Services in Different Settings in the Western Uusimaa Region

In this paper we want to present five concepts for wellbeing related services and activities that have been piloted in the Western Uusimaa region as examples of ways of bringing health and wellbeing to different settings and different user groups. The pilots have been conducted for children in the kindergarten and secondary school, for adults in the health centre and for the unemployed in a variety of every day settings. We also want to present how local experiments can be put into wider use by virtual means and present the concept of the virtual wellbeing backpack family. The paper is based on work done in Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Laurea UAS) in a subproject of a cross regional project Pumppu funded by the European Regional Fund during 2011-2014.