DIGI CITIZEN
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland – Kela
Kela offers a wide range of benefits for different life situations. At the moment, the only Kela service I use is the reimbursement for medications when I get sick. Occasionally, I may also receive support for private doctor’s fees.
A long time ago, when we started our family, I received maternity and parental allowance, which have now been renamed pregnancy allowance and parental allowance. After our children were born, we received child benefit for both of them and home care allowance while I stayed home to care for them.
Now our children are adults and have moved out to study in different cities. They receive study grants, student loans, and housing allowance.
It’s easy to forget how fortunate we are in Finland to have support systems for families with children, students, the sick, and the unemployed. I hope these benefits will continue to be available in the future.
I also visited the OmaKanta service to view my personal health records. I logged in using a mobile certificate. I feel that using a mobile certificate is safer, as it allows access to services without always needing online banking credentials.
I checked my pension accrual information, and according to the data, I won’t be able to retire at 63. My minimum retirement age is 66 years and 5 months, and my target retirement age is 68 years and 2 months. Nurses’ salaries are quite low, and I wonder how I’ll manage financially during retirement. Ideally, I would be able to work until my target retirement age or even one year longer. The rising retirement age also makes me think about whether I’ll have the strength to work until then. Working life is fast-paced and constantly changing—how can one keep up with the development?
Online Shopping and Digital Services
Ordering from online stores is very easy nowadays, and if one is willing, price comparison is also simple. I have a few trusted online shops from which I occasionally order clothes. I often choose to pay by invoice, so I don’t need to enter my online banking credentials on the website. I also order dog food from a pet store with home delivery—the quality and price are both good.
However, I also enjoy shopping in physical stores, and sometimes you can find great deals through in-store promotions. I consider Booking.com to be a reliable service, and I’ve booked several hotels through it both in Finland and abroad. I personally prefer to pay a little extra to have the option to cancel the room for free in case something unexpected comes up at the last minute.
It’s important to be cautious when using websites and to consider which ones are trustworthy.
Digitalization of Healthcare Services
Healthcare services have also become digitalized, and nowadays it’s easy to use a chat-based doctor service. You describe your symptoms through the chat and may also send a photo of the issue or symptom. The doctor then provides instructions on how to treat yourself. This speeds up the treatment process and allows the doctor to efficiently care for multiple patients.
Of course, there are illnesses for which a chat consultation is not suitable. In such cases, the chat doctor will refer you to an in-person appointment. In emergency situations, you should always call an ambulance or go directly to a clinic—never wait for a response from a chat doctor.
Digitalization and risks
This makes me think especially about elderly people. Not all of them know how to use digital services, and some don’t even have online banking credentials or a smartphone. I believe this poses a significant risk of them being excluded from services entirely.
Nowadays, receiving personal service—for example, at a bank—is very difficult without online banking credentials. You either have to book an appointment at a branch or go there and wait in line. Some services aren’t even available by queuing. The number of bank branches has been reduced, and for many elderly people, the distance to the nearest branch is long.
Another group that comes to mind is low-income individuals who cannot afford a computer or smartphone. This also puts them at risk of being excluded from digital services.
Finland is a large country with areas where internet access is limited or unavailable. People living in such regions are also at risk of being left out of digital services.
Digital Skills Test Results
In the digital skills test, the best-performing area for me was security, where I scored 79%. This didn’t come as a surprise, as secure handling and use of information is extremely important in the healthcare sector.
The second-best result was in information handling, with a score of 70%. The weakest part of this section was information retrieval, which also wasn’t surprising—I’m aware of this gap in my skills.
Clearly, the weakest area was digital content creation and usage, where I scored 38%. My skills in this area are clearly lacking. I haven’t studied computer programming, and I don’t need these skills in my current job. However, in the future, such skills may become necessary even in the laboratory field. This area interests me, and I might study it someday.
There was also room for improvement in the communication section, where I scored 49%.
Reflections on Digitalization and Digital Skills
This assignment was interesting and made me think about how nearly all services today have become digitalized. It led me to consider both the risks and the benefits. What concerns me most is how elderly people can keep up with these developments and avoid being deceived in the virtual world. This is something I worry about myself as well, because scams are very common, well-crafted, and it’s easy to fall victim to them.
It’s important to remember that there is never such a rush that you can’t take the time to carefully read a message or email before clicking on a link.
In the digital skills test, I performed well in the security section, which gave me confidence in navigating the digital world. One of the benefits of digitalization is the availability of services regardless of where you live.
In the test, I noticed weaknesses in digital content creation and communication. These are areas I should definitely focus on improving in the future.
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