Care Assistants’ Day on 22 May – Participate in a survey and win a prize!
We celebrate care assistants’ national theme day on 22 May. The purpose of the day is to strengthen care assistants’ professional identity and increase awareness of how versatile skills their work requires.
Care assistants’ work is essential for smooth functioning of care services. Despite that, few people know how versatile skills their work requires.
Care assistants provide support in day-to-day life of older people, people with disabilities and others who need assistance. Care assistants make sure that clients have clean clothes on and they have eaten on time. They help with grocery shopping and filling out forms.
A care assistant does not have a clear job description like that of a nurse or an institutional cleaner. Work varies depending on the workplace. Care assistants enable other care sector professionals to focus on their strongest areas.
In practice, care assistants do all kinds of care work except for medical care, says Satu Mikola from care assistants’ national occupational sector forum.
“You often hear someone say: ‘a care assistant will take care of that’.”
A stepping stone to the care sector
There are in total about 4000 care assistants in Finland, and a little over one thousand of these are members of Trade Union JHL. 90% of care assistants work in the public sector with older people.
When the minimum staffing level in 24-hour care of older people was reduced last year, that affected particularly the numbers of care assistants.
“It makes no sense that care assistants’ value is not recognised. Reducing care assistants increases for example practical nurses’ workload”, states JHL’s Specialist in Occupation-Specific Activities Sami Haapakoski.
JHL works to secure care assistants the appreciation and pay that reflect the real value of their work. Strengthening the position of care assistants is important for the future of the entire care sector, as well as for attraction and retention of workforce.
For many, work as a care assistant is a stepping stone to the care sector.
“Care assistant training takes about a year. It offers an opportunity to learn about the sector and continue studies later to become for example a practical nurse”, Satu Mikola explains.
Care assistants’ work experience and training can be applied to further studies.
Participate in a survey and win a prize
To celebrate Care Assistants’ Day, Trade Union JHL organises a survey (in Finnish) for everyone who works or is going to work as a care assistant. The survey results will be used for example for improving JHL’s services and for promoting the interests of this occupational sector.
All respondents participate in a prize draw where they can win one of these prizes:
- Taika fire blanket
- Wiesendahl wireless headphones
- Prolink recycled plastic hybrid earbuds
The prizes are donated by insurance company Turva.
We will also raffle four Fazer gift cards (value €50 each).
Privacy statement for the survey (in Finnish)
JHL is Finland’s largest trade union of the welfare sectors
In JHL, you will get all these and more:
- Support at work: JHL negotiates better pays and terms and conditions of employment.
- Benefits and security for your everyday life: Get membership benefits, work-related legal services and financial security in case of unemployment.
- Occupational-sector forums: Stay informed on the hot topics of your occupational sector and network with colleagues.
- An opportunity to influence: JHL works to secure care assistants the appreciation and pay that reflect the real value of their work.
- Training and professional development: Update your skills and knowledge with courses and training provided by your trade union.
When you are a member of JHL, you are not alone – you are part of a strong community that promotes your rights and values your work.
Join JHL!
JHL is the trade union for social and health care professionals. Our members work for example as care assistants, practical nurses, social service professionals and psychiatric nurses. They take care of people’s wellbeing in disability services, in child protection, in mental health and substance abuse work, in medical care, in elderly care, and as sterile processing technicians.
