Information as a Precondition for Patient Choice: How a Marketing Campaign Succeeded to Add Knowledge on Youth Rehabilitation Services?
Abstract
One precondition for patient choice in the public health care system is that comparative information on service providers is available. If patient choice is to improve the quality of health care patients should be able to use the available information appropriately. Finnish studies have shown that the youth is poorly informed about the vocational and mental health rehabilitation services. This study examines the effects of a marketing campaign (Mikä Kunto?) which aimed to raise youth awareness of rehabilitation services. The campaign was carried out by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) in 2015–2016. The results are utilized to discuss the role of information as a precondition for patient choice in the youth rehabilitation services.
The data was collected using a telephone interview and online questionnaires. The informants were young people aged 16–30 years (n = 584), rehabilitation providers (n = 19), youth workers in outreach youth work (n = 102) and Kela employees responsible for the rehabilitation phone services (n = 49). Informants’ awareness of the campaign was measured and the number of contacts by the youth with the latter informants in matters of rehabilitation. The analysis is complemented with the information on the number of visitors to the campaign website.
A majority of the rehabilitation providers and Kela employees had noticed the campaign. In contrast, three percent of the youth and half of the youth workers in outreach youth work had noted it. The campaign affected only little the number of contacts by youth in matters of rehabilitation. Marketing of the campaign was shown in the number of visitors to the campaign website.
Instead of a marketing campaign it could be more efficient to increase rehabilitation take-up by providing personal counselling to the youth in detecting rehabilitation need and in case management. If support for the use of available information is not offered the youth may not get the services they need and the possibility to choose the service provider becomes an irrelevant question.
Authors
Anna-Marie Paavonen, Jenna Mäkinen, Anna-Liisa Salminen
Additional Information
- Peer-Reviewed: yes.
- Open Access: : no.
- Cite as: Paavonen, A.-M., Mäkinen, J., & Salminen, A.-L. (2017). Tieto valinnanvapauden edellytyksenä: Miten Mikä Kunto? -viestintäkampanjalla onnistuttiin lisäämään tietoa nuorten kuntoutuspalveluista? Kuntoutus, 40(2), 5–18. https://journal.fi/kuntoutus/article/view/112393
