KELA 

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) provides social security Finns abroad through the different stages of their lives. I have two children and I was divorced so Kela offers different benefits touching my children. I get child benefits, single-parent supplement to child benefits and child support from Kela. My children are under 10 years of age so if they suddenly get ill, I can stay home and take care them. I can be home temporary, maximum of four working days. Next autumn Kela will offer me child care allowance, when my son start school and I work no more than 30 hours a week. Partial care allowance is paid for child who is in the first or second year of school. The right to partial care allowance and when I leave home to care my sick child temporary are based on the Employment Contracts Act. Whereas I get ill, Kela pay the sickness allowance as compensation for loss of income. This can last less than a full year and I need a medical certificate to qualify for that. Furthermore, Kela provides reimbursements for medical expenses like medicines, dental care, doctor’s fees both examination and treatment.  

I may need European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to receive medically necessary treatment like acute illness or if I have an accident abroad, in EU or EEA countries, Switzerland, Great Britain or Northern Ireland. I should receive treatment to the same cost as the country’s inhabitants and Kela pays the costs. I have already European health care card, but I apply for this card for my son via OmaKela.

OmaKanta 

I see my health records and prescriptions in my Kanta Pages, and I can request a prescription renewal and save my living will and organ donation testament. Digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate is in the My Kanta Pages too. I access to My Kanta by online bank IDs. So that I can use this service I need a Finnish personal ID code. I must identify into my Kanta Pages like online bank IDs, mobile IDs or ID card for online services. My Kanta is very good service to citizens. A customer can check his/her health records like answer of Corona sample and no need to call to health care. 

KEVA 

KEVA is Finland’s largest pension provider. When public sector employee has served out his/her careers, they get pension. According to current information I will retire earliest 67 years and four months old. I think I’m very old those days. The retirement age is calculated as life expectancy. When I’m 70 years old, my pension doesn’t increase anymore. I look amount of my pension those years and the difference between pensions are about 500 euros. I see my earnings-related pension statement on KEVA Pages and since 2005 I have earned a pension. Lucky the Finns get the pension when they retire. 

DIGITAL SHOPS  

Customer can choose using of digital shops. Other people might think that’s easy to shop by themselves and in the other hand it’s difficult without personal service. The prizes of digital shops are usually cheaper than the prizes of usual local shops. It’s due to self-service. The information adequacy to the consumer might be minor, but it depends on the digital shop. For example, Booking.com and Trivago offer information well, but Ebay and Amazon don’t always offer information clearly. The quality of some international digital shop isn’t always good. I think booking hotel or other accommodation is reliable, but shopping in international digital shops should estimate how reliable shop is. I estimate reliability of the digital shop to look for information about shipping rates, delivery and returns. Furthermore, I may read experiences of the other people. Nowadays if orders come from outside the EU, the customer must cost custom taxes. 

SERVICE/APPLICATION 

I use a lot of digital service and shops. I take care of most things online by Internet. It’s quick and usually easy no matter the time or place. Sometimes I make my daily grocery shopping by application, but delivery often goes too long so I must go to market. I order clothes for me and my children from digital shops. Clothes might be on offer and selection is better than the local shops. I handle my banking matters, make an appointment with doctor or dentist, insurance, other service and almost everything online. 

I choose Secapp application, because it quite new application in my working place, in the neonatal intensive care unit in Kuopio University hospital. Secapp is a Finnish critical communications and alerting platform. It is built to broadcast mass notifications, alert individuals and teams, collect critical data and provide secure real-time chats and videos. All data in this a platform is secure and owned by the customer. You can also read this application more Secapp’s homepage https://www.secapp.fi/en/home/. At my work a ward nurse or a nurse which is called a shift manager send message if the ward needs more nurses in the following shift. Shortage of nurses may be due to some nurses get ill or several infants need taking care of. The nurse can decide using of application: she/he can download application or not. Secapp application make easier recruit own nurses than calling every nurse alternately. The nurse can send her/his answer OK or NOK if she/he take that shift. It’s over 60 nurses in neonatal intensive care unit in KYS and about half of them use those application. When the nurse is on holiday or she/he doesn’t want to hear about work, she/he can set Secapp application offline so messages will not come to her/him. This application might increase stress because the nurse supposes easily that next shift is busy, and the nurses aren’t enough in shift. In addition, Secapp application increase equality to take alarm shift from which nurse receive alarm money. So Secapp application brings good points but might interfere with nurses’ free time and increase stress.

DIGITALIZATION AND DIGITAL GAP 

The digitalization brings the risks and challenges for people. The digitalization brings good points also. People can take care of their things online and they can stay home for example during this Corona pandemic time. Taking care of things isn’t depends on place or time. Meetings can be in different communication platforms like in Teams or Zoom. It’s important to teach information technology skills those people, who don’t use virtual services. The digitalization can be challenging for vulnerable customer such as minors, immigrants, the memory impaired, the visually impaired and substance abuse clients. Security, the difficulty of using services and overly limited operating methods are becoming a challenge. Therefore it’s important to involve these customer groups in the design of services so that the proliferation of digital services doesn’t exacerbate existing social and health inequalities. It will be risk for those people fall out of services. It’s important to provide service in the traditional ways too like calls and appointments. The digitalization affect the health of people and daily business like banking. Identification might be easy, but if someone need online bank IDs, she/he must have a Finnish personal ID code like an identity card or a passport. This can be the challenge for poor people. The digitalization is in some cases and extent cost-effective and environmentally friendly. 

THREE BLOGS THAT I COMMENTED 

DIGI CITIZEN

Digi Citizen

DIGI CITIZEN

THE DIGITAL COMPTENCE TEST 

I did the digital the competence test. I thought that I have good technology skills. My total score was 75 % and I’m in level 5 (advanced). In daily work I manage with my technology skills at work and home. As you can see in the picture below, my knowledge of production isn’t in good level, especially automation. I know that those area isn’t so interesting to me although I know what a computer includes. If something doesn’t work, my IT patience isn’t good level. Programming language isn’t familiar too. 

SELF-REFLECTION 

This assignment of the digitalised working environment course is nice to do. The area of this assignment was quite familiar and it’s easy to reflect. The assignment made me think how much things happen online and what I must remember when use the digital service and different applications. I learn to estimate my information technology skills too.