Everyone has the right to rehabilitation

When working in Finland, you have the right to rehabi­li­ta­tion in the event of illness or any impair­ment that makes it more difficult to work. Rehabi­li­ta­tion is generally designed to accom­mo­date indivi­dual needs and conducted by compe­tent medical experts.

16.9.2020

The main scheme is called Kiila rehabi­li­ta­tion. The purpose is to support people’s ability to continue working in good health. As the goal is to help people stay working, rehabi­li­ta­tion must begin early enough so as to safeguard a worker’s ability to remain econo­mically active.

Kiila rehabi­li­ta­tion might be for you whether you are employed or self-employed, have an illness or health problem that hampers working and think that the help received from occupa­tional health care is not sufficient or adequate.

The actual rehabi­li­ta­tion itself is planned indivi­dually, based on a medical evalua­tion of your circums­tances. It is normally organised in small groups, often made up of 3 to 5 people working in the same branch.

Usually it includes 8–9 days treat­ment in centres of occupa­tional well-being and rehabi­li­ta­tion. These are located all around the country. Also, one day group treat­ment and 4–8 indivi­dual visits are included. All this will take place within a one and a one and a half year time span.

Ideally rehabi­li­ta­tion should be sought in coope­ra­tion with occupa­tional health care, but it is also possible to apply for it by getting a so called doctor’s certi­ficate B which can be issued by any medical doctor.

Once that is done, one only needs to fill in the form for Kiila rehabi­li­ta­tion on Kela’s webpages (Kela being the Social Insurance Insti­tu­tion of Finland). There is even a possi­bi­lity to apply for the services of an interpreter for those with limited command of Finnish or Swedish.

Kela has compre­hen­sive infor­ma­tion in English about Kiila on their pages www.kela.fi.

Kiila rehabi­li­ta­tion does not cost anything. Many emplo­yers will continue to pay salary when joining it, but if this is not the case, you can apply for a rehabi­li­ta­tion allowance and travel costs from Kela.

IMPORTANT TO ACT IN TIME

Occupa­tional health care has a key role in rehabi­li­ta­tion, says Kari Haring, the Medical Adviser of the Central Organi­sa­tion of Finnish Trade Unions SAK in an article in Finnish for Tekijä magazine.

– It is crucial to recog­nise problems concer­ning someone’s ability to work early on, before there is a need for sick leave or taking an early pension.

It is equally impor­tant to think of solutions when changes in the ability to work become apparent and how incapaci­tated persons might continue in working life, Haring stresses.

Unions have the right to apply for Kiila rehabi­li­ta­tion for their members, too. The Industrial Union has applied for rehabi­li­ta­tion for example in Oulu and Helsinki for their shop stewards.

– This group experiences special pressures. There is no peer support in the workplace and the work can be very burden­some when dealing with other people’s issues, says Marjut Lumijärvi, the Health, Safety and Environ­ment Officer at the Finnish Industrial Union in the same article.

TEXT HEIKKI JOKINEN