Kela and Omakanta
I have been working for many years now and do not receive any support from Kela. During my time as an all-day student, I received student loans and aid. I am now to pay Kela my student loan and student healthcare payment to Kela. I found it very easy to pay through their website, as it was prominently displayed on the first page. However, it´s important to remember to make the payment because Kela does not send out bills for it.
During my first year of these studies, I was unaware of this requirement and realized it when I received a reminder bill at home. Once I remembered, the process of paying was clear and quick.
I already have the European health card for many years, and I think it is very handy that Kela automatically sends the next one when the old one expires.
I use Omakanta maybe once or twice a year. Currently, I haven´t needed to use healthcare or social services, but I find Omakanta to be a very simple and useful service for managing all my all medical and health-related matters. I work at a children’s protection shelter, and soon we are planning to transfer all our client’s records to Omakanta. I used my online banking to identify and log in, which I found to be a safe and easy method.
Pension
I checked my pension information on the Keva website. It provided me with a wealth of interesting data and estimates regarding my pension. Although there are still many years of work ahead of me before retirement, it was nice to see the estimate. Perhaps that information gives me some work motivation.
Digital shops
I have used multiple digital stores. I use Booking, Trivago, Zalando, ResQ Club, and Foodora. I travel a lot and always book accommodation through Booking or Airbnb. Sometimes, I use Trivago to see if there are better offers, but usually, Booking or Airbnb offer the best prices. I particularly prefer the Booking.com application because it offers the most diverse options internationally. For example, I recently booked accommodations for a two-week trip using Booking.com. I chose different types of accommodations for each of the four destinations. For example, one city we are staying in a hotel, while in another city, we are staying for a private apartment with its own kitchen and washing machine so we can do laundry and prepare our own meal. I appreciate this application because I can easily find a variety of apartments, hostels, and hotels all in one place, and I can also manage my reservations within the same application. Additionally, it’s very easy to cancel a reservation for free if needed. Typically, I reserve a few options and then select the best one if I can’t find anything better. Moreover, I often receive good offers because I’ve been using Booking for a long time.
I compared prices between Tokmanni and Zalando. At Tokmanni, the Fjällrävens backpack costs 79,90€, while the same size Fjällräven backpack costs 115,95€ on the Zalando website. So, this product was cheaper to buy in the store than Zalando website.
Digital Competence Test– I did the Digital Competence Test, and this is my results.
The digital applications I use at work
Currently, I don’t use many applications at work. Mostly, I use Google Translate app and Teams. We aren’t not allowed to use even WhatsApp on our work phones. Google Translate is very important because I work with many different nationalities, and we often don’t have a common language. Also, Teams- is a useful platform for sharing information related to our working environment.
Digitalization and digital grap
In healthcare and social services, there exist many risks and challenges for individuals who not used to use virtual platforms. Social service clients typically face multiple challenges in their daily lives, and for those with motor challenges, comprehension difficulties, or limited reading skills, managing their responsibilities through virtual services can prove extremely challenging. Also, individuals who has no knowledge of network security and privacy are susceptible to scams, data breaches, and malware threats.
For example, situation where you can book a doctor’s appointment only by virtual services. For the elderly, book appointment that way can be too hard and potentially they will never get appointment which they need. Also, individuals who are used to handling their affairs through face-to-face interactions or phone calls may get into situations where you go to hospital, or some other services and you get unfortunately angrily answer. That can affect very much to next attempt to book appointment. Exactly for the elders and people who has mental health or substance abuse problems.
Own reflections
I am accustomed to using different virtual services, as they have been a part of my adult life for as long as I can remember. I use many different applications, websites, and programs in my everyday life. Additionally, I assist my parents in navigating these services, which I recognize can be challenging for them. Also, I’ve noticed that they are more cautious and take longer to adapt to using websites or applications. All thought it is good to be cautious and careful in the virtual world.
I often find myself relying heavily on digital services and can efficiently manage many daily tasks through these applications and websites. However, I’ve noticed that there are numerous services that I had never even heard of before, such as Prime. It would be beneficial for me to explore and learn about new applications instead of just use on familiar ones, like my calendar app.
Taking the digital competence test was truly eye-opening experience. It reminded me of the many dimensions encompassed by digital services. Moreover, it highlighted the importance of being more exact about security in digital environments.
I commented on Hanna Björklöf, Mari Heikkinen and Hanna Ahtiainen blog.