Home care helps you with daily activities such as getting out of bed, going to the toilet, washing, dressing and eating. We also help with administering medication.
We monitor your health on home visits. Home care can also include nursing services when ordered by a doctor if you cannot use other health care and nursing services.
We can arrange regular home care on a daily basis, even at night. Part of home care can be implemented as remote care, where we will contact you by phone or using a tablet. Remote connection allows us to check on you and remind you of important things.
Your day-to-day care will be provided by practical nurses, public health nurses and registered nurses. Your well-being will also be taken care of by home aids, home helpers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. You can also receive support services that complement your personal care, such as meal services.
We will prepare an individual care and service plan for you. Home care can also be temporary, for example when recovering from an illness.
Home care and its support services are subject to a fee. You can receive home care as a service provided by the city or as a purchased service, in which case we have purchased the service from a private company. Alternatively, we can provide you with a service voucher, allowing you to purchase the service yourself from companies we have approved.
If you wish to apply for home care, please contact Senior Info, even if you are under 65 years of age. If your family includes an underage child, you can also apply for home services from Home Services for Families with Children.
Applying for temporary and regular home care
You can receive temporary home care if your functional capacity becomes temporarily impaired. Special needs families can also receive temporary home services in other straining life situations.
You are eligible to receive short-term home care, often referred to as temporary care, in situations such as illness recovery, post-surgery recuperation, or when facing a temporary decline in your functional capacity. Temporary home care can be provided for a maximum duration of two months.
The service encompasses various forms of support, including monitoring your health condition, wound care, and assistance with meal preparation and personal hygiene.
The number of home visits varies depending on your situation. Temporary home care can be combined with support services, such as a meal service.
Apply for the service by contacting Senior Info.
See the contact information for Senior Info
If you have a special needs child in your family, you can also be provided practical help and support at home from Home Services for Families with Children.
We can grant you regular home care if:
- your functional capacity is clearly impaired, and you cannot cope with regular daily activities independently with the help of family members or other helpers.
- you are in need of medical care but are unable, due to physical, social or mental limitations, to use the services of the health station or a private company, even when helped.
- your informal caregiver needs support in order to cope.
We grant home care based on a service needs assessment.
If you want to apply for the home care service, do as follows:
If you already have a designated responsible worker for city-provided disability services, please contact them and they will contact home care services on your behalf.
See the contact information for employees of Social Work for People with Disabilities
If you do not have a designated responsible worker, please contact Senior Info.
See the contact information for Senior Info
If you have a special needs child in your family, you can also be provided practical help and support at home from Home Services for Families with Children.
Other services to support living at home
You can receive support services that complement your personal care. You can receive support services even if you are not a home care client. The services are subject to a fee. Some service fees are income-based.
You can find the price lists of the services under Fees for senior services.
The meal service transports ready-made, nutritionally balanced meals to your home, which you can heat up yourself. We also observe special diets.
The service is provided by Compass Group Finland Oy and Palvelukeskus Helsinki, which deliver meals to you 1 to 2 times a week. Alternatively, you can get a combination of a freezer and oven, i.e. the Menumat meal device, to your home. The service is provided by Menumat Oy.
Our menus include 1 to 3 meal options for each day. On a weekly basis, you will receive a list of options that are suitable for your diet, from which you can choose the meals you prefer. The meals include a main course, salad, undiluted juice or a fruit, and dessert.
You are eligible for the meal service if you have been diagnosed with severe malnutrition or illness, or if you are recovering from an illness or injury, or if you have any other special reason as to why you need meals or a special diet to be brought to your home.
The meal service fees consist of the prices of the meals and transport and possible meal heating. In addition, the Menumat service has a service fee.
Read more on the websites of the service providers:
Home meals by Palvelukeskus Helsinki(Link leads to external service)
The grocery delivery service delivers the groceries that you order through the service to your door. The service includes one delivery per week that is not subject to value added tax.
You are eligible for the grocery delivery service if you cannot go shopping on your own or with the help of a loved one due to your impaired functional capacity or health, or if you cannot arrange your grocery shopping in other ways. The grocery delivery service granted by the city is primarily intended for clients of home care, rehabilitative assessment or informal care support.
Groceries are procured and delivered by the Kauppakassipalvelu service of Mehiläinen. The service incurs a delivery fee.
Read more about the Kauppakassipalvelu service of Mehiläinen(Link leads to external service)
Grocery delivery services are also available from several private operators.
The safety phone service includes a safety phone and bracelet to call for help around the clock.
You are entitled to the safety phone service if you are susceptible to falling, for example. The service can also include a door alarm and a GPS locator bracelet.
The safety phone service is an income-based service, which means that the service fee depends on your income and your spouse’s income.
Watch a video on the safety phone service (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)
Read more about the safety phone service (Palvelukeskus Helsinki)(Link leads to external service)
A medication dispensing robot helps to make sure that you take your medication at the right time. Home Care always verifies the suitability of the service client-specifically.
The medication dispensing robot service comes included in the home care fee.
Remote health care service means that we will be in contact with you via an easy-to-use tablet computer. In remote health care, we can check on you and remind you of important things, such as taking your medication, checking your blood sugar levels, eating and moving around. In remote health care, you can also take part in remote group sessions, such as the daily lunch group with other remote health care clients, if you wish.
The remote health care service comes included in the home care fee.
During our daily visits, we will ensure the cleanliness of the kitchen and toilet together with you. Actual cleaning service is provided with a service voucher. In exceptional cases, we can arrange cleaning as a service purchased by the city.
You may qualify for the cleaning service if you have a low income and your functional capacity has been compromised to the extent that you are unable to perform cleaning tasks independently or with the assistance of loved ones, or if you cannot arrange for cleaning through alternative means.
You can be granted with two hours of cleaning service per month. The cleaning service is an income-based service.
You can also buy cleaning services yourself from a private company and claim tax credit for household expenses. Ask for more information about tax credit for household expenses from Senior Info.
Read more about the home cleaning service voucher (Go to the Senior Services page)
Read more about private home services not subject to value added tax
Read more about the tax credit for household expenses (vero.fi)(Link leads to external service)
You can make use of the bathing service, that is a washing service provided outside the home, once a week or every other week, as needed. If needed, the service can include transport.
You can be eligible for the bathing service if your capacity to function is impaired and regular washing is not possible at home, even with help or aids, and it is not possible for you to wash, for example, in a swimming hall.
You pay for the service according to your visits and transport needs.