Development of Preparedness Planning for The Wellbeing Services County of Central Finland

Abstract

The study aims to support the development of the preparedness planning of the wellbeing services county of Central Finland by providing information about the status and developmental needs of the preparedness of the Social and health care services sector departments. The objective of the study was to find out the status of preparedness and insights of key experts and managers of the Social and health care services sector in preparing for electricity shortages and power supply disruptions, water supply disruptions, heat distribution disturbances, and situations where the premises are not in use or have been destroyed. Additionally, the thesis aimed to clarify what kind of training key Social and health care sector experts need to conduct their duty in preparedness planning. The study design was qualitative research. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, interviewing 11 key informants of the wellbeing services county of Central Finland. The collected data were analyzed by qualitative inductive content analysis.

General uncertainty and geospatial instability are challenging organizations, causing instability and threats to achieve the organizations’ strategic goals. Maintaining reasonable means of crisis management is vital for ensuring the organization’s business continuity. Crisis preparedness is one of the main components of the pre-crisis management phase of organizational crisis management. Influences of global instability, challenges of local societies, and massive organizational reform have challenged Finnish public social welfare and health care services. Maintaining readiness for disruptions and emergencies requires on-time contingency. The preparedness of the Finnish public social welfare and health care services is strongly guided and regulated by law, governmental regulations, and guidelines. The transformation of public social welfare and health care services to the established wellbeing services counties has caused an urgent need to update their crisis management structures, including preparedness planning to adapt new organizational structures and constantly changing operational environments.

The preparedness planning process of the wellbeing services county of Central Finland was still being formed and needed improvement and development on multiple levels of the organization. According to the insights of the interviewed informants, the preparedness status of the departments and sectors they were responsible for was mainly insufficient because of the recently conducted organizational reform. Most felt they did not have enough relevant awareness, ability, and resources to plan the preparedness comprehensively and appropriately. Additionally, internal support for preparedness-related duties could be more intense. The structures and responsibilities of crisis management would require more harmonization within the organization. The means and plans of preparedness for disruptions of electricity, water supply, heat distribution and use of premises varied in different departments, locations, and premises. Also, the responsibility to ensure the continuity of the vital utilities and essential services provided by external service providers requires a review. Interviewed key experts felt that preparing for the threats mentioned in the research questions was crucial. Still, they were unsure and felt uncomfortable about the status and arrangements of the current preparedness. Therefore, harmonizing the means of preparedness and crisis management within the organization was still needed.