Self-Help Groups in Finland - cooperation with ... - Kansalaisareena

Self-Help Groups in Finland - 

cooperation with various partners 

Marianne Nylund 

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences 

marianne.nylund@diak.fi 

European Expert Meeting on Self Help Support 

Järvenpää, Finland 

June 16th, 2011

Content of the presentation 

Introduction 

Definition 

Historical background 

Organisational structures 

Changing roles of self-help groups and 

professionals 

Current issues – Future challenges 

Marianne Nylund 16.6.2011

Introduction 

• Self-help groups and mutual support 

increased in Finland during last 20 years 

• All citizens can be part of a self-help group in 

some stage in their life cycle 

• The issues varies from questions concerning 

preventing perspective of child raising and 

social relations to improving people’s life 

situations concerning addictive behavior, 

mental health problems, illness, disability, 

divorce, death of a family member etc. 


Why increased interest 

in SHGs 

• Crisis in welfare state/society 

• Is there a lack of professional support Long 

waiting times to receive help 

• Lack of social networks 

• Citizen initiatives are growing 

belief in experiential knowledge 

Criticism of professional/theoretical 

knowledge 


Definition in the 

Finnish context 

• A group of people who meet each other 

regularly (face-to-face or virtually) to share 

experiences and to receive information in a 

personal life situation, health or social issue. 

• ”Based on mutual support & sharing similar 

life situation or concern” (Nylund 2000, 20) 


Definition by a SHG member 

”Mutual support means 

that kind of help and support 

that only people who have experienced 

similar kinds of life situations, 

can give to each other to cope with the 

situation – 

and no one else can give that kind of 

support.” 


Historical background 

• Mutual support and reciprocial help have long 

traditions in the Finnish social policy starting from the 

end of 1800s (Jaakkola 1996) 

• Ideas of mutualism came to Finland from Germany 

and United Kingdom 

• Working class people established mutual aid 

associations to create contingency funds to provide 

protection from social risks, such as sickness, burial 

and retirement 

• These insurance societies became part of the state 

pension and insurance systems in 1937 (the Pension 

Law) and 1963 (the Sickness Insurance). 


Modern SHGs 1940-80s 

• AA-groups in 1946, one of the first ones in 

Europe (Mäkelä 1988) 

• Modern SHGs based on immaterial support, 

instead of material support (mutual aid 

groups): identity, well-being, personal growth 

• SHGs dealing with social and health issues: 

psychical disabilities and mental health, single 

parenthood, parents of children with special 

needs 

• -> similar patterns with other European 

countries and USA 


SHGs in 1990s 

• In the 1990s, increase of groups for 

unemployed people, people with mental 

health issues, and care givers for relatives 

with long term illness (Nylund 1999, 2005) 

• According to a national mapping of self-help 

groups in 1994s (n=173 groups) 

main issues discussed in the groups were: 

mental health, substance abuse, physical 

illness or disability, life crises (divorce, death 

of a spouse or children), and women issues 

(Nylund 2000b). 


Types of groups in 

1990-2000s 

• Groups for children and young people (Taitto 2003; 

Lindroos). 

These groups differ from adults’ groups because 

they are often lead by professionals or adult 

volunteers because the vulnerability of children 

and young people (Nylund 2005, 200) 

• Groups for immigrants, differ.ethnic backgrounds 

(Martikainen 2006): Growing number of immigrants in 

Finland after early 1990s (refugees, asylum 

seekers, marriages, work and studies; EU labour 

marget) 


Research interests in self-help groups 

• Research on AA-groups, comparative studies 

(Mäkelä 1980-1990s) 

• Phd thesis (social policy, social work, sociology) 

AA-groups: therapeutic interaction (Arminen 1998) 

 

Overview, groups for unemployed people (Nylund 

2000) 

Mental health, substance abuse (Hyväri 2001) 

Chronic illnesses (Mikkonen 2009) 

• Licenciate thesis (social work) 

Immigrant women (Harju-Tolppa 2004) 

 

Depression (Jantunen 2008/nursing) 

Women and substance abuse (Palojärvi 2009) 


Organisational structures 

• Many self-help groups operate under nonprofit 

social and health associations 

• Groups meet at the localities of 

organisations, self-initiated or initiated by 

professionals 

• No self-help centres or clearinghouses in 

Finland 

Recruition and information through NGOs 

(eg. Citizen Arena), municipal social and 

health centers, hospitals 


Types of SHGs 

(Nylund 2000) 

Background 

organisation 

% N 

Citizen groups 8 14 

Third sector groups 32 57 

Public sector groups 12 22 

Mixed groups 48 85 

Total 100 178 


Initiators and leaders (%) 

(Nylund 2000) 

I 

Initiator of the group 

Leader of the group 

Private citizen 39 - 

Volunteer/ student - 15 

Group member - 42 

No leader - 9 

NGO 19 - 

Professional 29 34 

Municipality 8 - 

Lutheran parish 5 - 

Total % 100 100 

N=178* (more than one 

initiator/leader) 

211 194 


Funding 

• Self-help support projects funded by different 

sources: 

Slot Machine Association 

(http://www.ray.fi/inenglish/) 

NGOs (voluntary social and health organis.) 

Municipalities 

Members’ individual contributions 

Funding can be in form of meeting places, 

networking, free advertising, leaflets, etc. 


Changing role of SHGs and 

professionals 

• Self-help groups and mutual support is 

sometimes understood as a working method of 

social and health professionals or a rival of 

professionals (Hyväri 2005) 

• In the Finnish context, self-help groups 

cooperate very closely with public welfare 

services, professionals, lay persons and 

volunteers 

• Politicians see groups as a way to save public 

funding 


Changing role of SHGs and 

professionals 

Three different types of cooperation (Hyväri 2005): 

1) Professionals ”take over” self-help group 

activities 

2) Self-help groups as independent actors 

beside professionals 

3) Self-help groups act in close interaction with 

public services 


1)Professionals ”take over” self-help 

group activities 

• Professionals ”tame” all attempts for 

opposite opinions and new ideas 

• Professionals use self-help groups as a 

social work or therapy method 

• Examples in Finland how lay activities in AAgroups 

become part of official substance 

abuse care and professional activities (Mäkelä 

et al. 1996; Niemelä 1999) 


2) Self-help groups as independent 

actors beside professionals 

• Voluntary and self-initiated action should not 

be mixed with professional work 

• Self-help activities are lead by ideological 

goals that differ from professional social and 

health work 

• Public welfare system can provide support 

and promote different types of self-help 

group activities by offering meeting places, 

tools (technical etc.) and financial support 


3) Self-help groups act in close 

interaction with public services 

• When group members and professionals 

interact and communicate closely, both 

parties benefit 

• Need for professionals who understand the 

ideology of mutual support and importance 

of sharing experiences with peers 

• Professional can refer people to self-help 

groups when therapeutical support is not 

enough, is not available or is not needed 

anymore 


Current issues – 

Future challenges 

• Self-help groups have no legal position in 

the Finnish welfare system or legislation 

• Despite of positive development, some 

professionals still have negative attitudes 

and lack of knowledge of SHGs 

• Need to train and cooperate more between 

self-help group actors and professionals 

• Researchers invited to seminars instead of 

local self-help group members 



Future challeges 

• Members of self-help groups acquire plenty 

of information of various social and health 

issues 

• Critiques of social and health services and 

ways how professionals work 

• How this information can be cumulated and 

critics turned to constructive tool for change 




• How members can be active actors and tell 

their stories and ideas to professionals, 

authorities and decision makers 

• What kind of need there are to have 

someone as a mediator between self-help 

groups and professionals /decision makers 




• What kinds of possibilities members have 

to influence their personal life 

to make changes in social and health 

services 

• What kinds of best practices in self-help 

support there exist in different countries

Self-Help Groups in Finland - cooperation with ... - Kansalaisareena

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