Tomi Oinas

The Care Work and Technology survey is part of the Center of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care (CoE AgeCare), funded by the Academy of Finland (grant no. 312367 and 336671). In 2026, the final stages of the report was funded by Strategic Research Council, situated as part of the Academy of Finland (grant no. 372418). This unique longitudinal study, conducted between 2018 and 2025, followed the views of the same respondents on changes in care work of older people as well as the growing role of technology in care work. This report presents an up-to-date overview of care work in Finland, including the use of technology and its impacts on working conditions, work practices, and care relationships. The survey was designed in collaboration with experts from four trade unions (Tehy, SuPer, JHL and Talentia). The first survey was conducted in spring 2019, with the first follow-up survey taking place in spring 2021 and the second in spring 2024. Therefore, the study covers significant transformation, such as the crises of rising care costs, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national social and health sector (SOTE) reform. The study sample consisted of 47 854 trade union members, 6 189 of whom responded to the 2019 survey. Of these, a total of 3 607 respondents joined the panel, with 1 726 participating in the 2021 follow-up survey and 878 in the 2024 follow-up survey. The final combined longitudinal dataset includes 800 respondents whose responses cover the entire study period. The surveys included questions about employment relationships, working hours, the nature of work, and the use of devices, applications, and systems in care work. Topics such as the intensity of technology use, video call application use, social working conditions, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the SOTE reform were added to the follow-up surveys. The questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and it was tested before implementation. The surveys were conducted online in Finnish and Swedish (only the first wave). This report summarises the key findings of the entire dataset and provides information on changes and technological developments in care work with older people. Particular attention is paid to temporal changes and sector-specific differences, such as the views of employees in intensive service housing (“TPA”) and homecare (“kotihoito”). Open-ended responses have been discussed in separate publications and theses. This report provides valuable information for researchers and societal stakeholders involved in care provision. It shows that the technologisation of care work has progressed significantly during the report period and its impacts on working conditions and care relationships are manifold. At the same time, the daily practices of care workers have been shaped by the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic and the social and healthcare reform, providing a unique overview of Finnish eldercare work.

Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon työn teknologisoituminen on edennyt viime vuosina ripeästi. Käytetty teknologia herättää työntekijöissä tunteita, jotka vaikuttavat niin työnteon sujuvuuteen kuin asiakaskohtaamisiinkin. Tässä artikkelissa tavoitteenamme on tarkastella vanhustyöntekijöiden teknologiaan liittämiä tunteita erityisen menetelmällisen kokeilun avulla. Tutkimuskysymyksemme ovat: 1) Miten luonnollisella kielellä kuvattuja vanhushoivan työntekijöiden teknologiaan liittämiä tunnekokemuksia voidaan ryhmitellä tekoälypohjaisella klusteroinnilla? 2) Millaisia hyötyjä tekoälypohjaisella klusteroinnilla on sosiaalilääketieteelliselle tutkimukselle? Aineistona käytämme Jyväskylän yliopiston vuosina 2019 (N=6903) ja 2021 (N=1679) vanhuspalveluiden työntekijöiltä sähköisellä kyselylomakkeella keräämää paneeliaineistoa ja erityisesti sen teknologiaan liitettyjä tunteita koskevaa avokysymystä. Sovellamme avovastausaineistoon (N=3806) transformer-mallilla pohjustettua k-keskiarvoklusterointia ja visualisoimme tuloksia sana- ja hajontapilvillä. Useiden kokeilujen jälkeen päädyimme kahdeksan klusterin malliin. Klusterit kertovat sekä aineiston rakenteesta että vanhustyöntekijöiden tavoista vastata tunteita koskeviin avokysymyksiin. Omiksi ryppäikseen erottuivat positiiviset, negatiiviset, neutraalit sekä ristiriitaiset vastaukset. Lisäksi analyysistä erottuivat vastausryppäät, joissa tunnekokemukset yhdistettiin vanhustyön tiettyihin piirteisiin ja käytäntöihin. Tulokset osoittavat, että menetelmän käyttömahdollisuudet sosiaalilääketieteelliselle tutkimukselle ovat laajat. Menetelmä voi auttaa hahmottamaan huonosti tunnettuja ilmiötä sekä kehittämään niihin strukturoituja mittareita. Transformer-pohjainen ohjaamattoman oppimisen menetelmä soveltuu laajasti myös muunlaisten luonnolliseen kieleen perustuvien aineistojen, kuten asiakas- ja potilaskertomusten, analysointiin sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon alalla eikä pienten suomenkielisten tekstiaineistojenkaan käsittely muodostu ongelmaksi. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset ovat sovellettavissa myös käytännön kehitystyöhön, kun teknologioita otetaan käyttöön ja kehitetään vanhustyön kentällä.

Robots have been slowly but steadily introduced to welfare sectors. Our previous observations based on a large-scale survey study on Finnish elder-care workers in 2016 showed that while robots were perceived to be useful in certain telecare tasks, using robots may also prove to be incompatible with the care workers’ personal values. The current study presents the second wave of the survey data from 2020, with the same respondents (N = 190), and shows how these views have changed for the positive, including higher expectations of telecare robotization and decreased concerns over care robots’ compatibility with personal values. In a longitudinal analysis (Phase 1), the positive change in views toward telecare robots was found to be influenced by the care robots’ higher value compatibility. In an additional cross-sectional analysis (Phase 2), focusing on the factors underlying personal values, care robots’ value compatibility was associated with social norms toward care robots, the threat of technological unemployment, and COVID-19 stress. The significance of social norms in robot acceptance came down to more universal ethical standards of care work rather than shared norms in the workplace. COVID-19 stress did not explain the temporal changes in views about robot use in care but had a role in assessments of the compatibility between personal values and care robot use. In conclusion, for care workers to see potential in care robots, the new technology must support ethical standards of care work, such as respectfulness, compassion, and trustworthiness of the nurse–patient interaction. In robotizing care work, personal values are significant predictors of the task values.

This chapter explores the role digital skills, interest in technology, and social support have in home care workers’ use of digital applications at work. The empirical research is based on the 2019 University of Jyväskylä survey study on eldercare work (N = 6,903), drawn from the members of four majors trade unions in Finland. In this chapter, a sub-sample of home care workers (n = 1,398) is used in the analyses. Structural equation models are used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of available technology support, digital skills, and interest in technology on the actual use of various digital applications at work. According to the results, technology support has no direct effect on the use of digital applications. However, technology support seems to increase interest in technology and improve digital skills, which in turn promotes the use of digital applications. The availability of technology support appears as a crucial facilitator for home care workers’ digital agency at work.

Discussions about social isolation have been extensive over the past few decades. A less sociable nature of social ties has been identified in Western societies. The phenomenon has been associated with demographic changes such as aging and living alone as well as changes in the use of new technologies. In this study we employ representative Finnish Time Use Surveys from three decades, 1987–1988 (n = 1887), 1999–2000 (n = 2673) and 2009–2010 (n = 1887) to examine the trends in social isolation, measured as time spent alone. Our results showed that between 1987 and 2010 the time spent alone increased by 124 min per day. The increase was linear and occurred in nearly all population groups. Structural factors, such as aging and an increase in the number of single households, are strongly associated with increased time spent alone. Time spent alone has increased, especially during leisure activities. Specifically, time spent watching television and using computers is associated with the decreasing tendency for face-to-face interaction.

Globalization with its many side-effects on working life is seen to pose accentuated risks especially for women and low skilled workers – resulting in increasing polarization of job quality. In contrast to “universal theories”, institutional theories claim changes in work life might vary according to the institutional and cultural frameworks which mediate the global pressures of change. This study analyses job quality trends in Finland at the intersection of class and gender. The results, based on the Finnish Quality of Work Life survey (1977–2013), find no clear evidence of polarization. In line with the institutional theory’s prediction of a low risk of polarization in coordinated and inclusive Nordic countries, improvements have occurred for blue-collar workers in terms of autonomy and opportunities for development at work, reducing the gap between social classes. Furthermore, the negative sides of work life, such as insecurity and time pressures have become common experiences regardless of social class. The ‘welfare state paradox’ hypothesis on the comparative disadvantage of women in higher positions in the labour market does not gain support in 2013: the upper-white collar women have attained roughly similar levels of job quality to their male counterparts.

This study compares the division of domestic work among dual-career and other dual-earner couples. We examine whether gender attitudes, relative resources and working time explain the differences between dual-career and other dual-earner couples. We define dual-career couples as those in which both spouses are professionals and/or managers. The division of housework is important for these couples because of the intense pressures of work. We hypothesise that domestic work is more equally shared among dual-career couples than among other dual-earner couples. The quantitative analyses are based on the Finnish data from the 2010 European Social Survey (N = 493). The qualitative data consist of 20 Finnish career spouses interviewed in 2005. The quantitative analysis indicates that domestic work is shared the most equally among couples where the woman or both spouses have a career status. Attitudes, resources or working time do not explain this difference entirely. The results support the class culture hypothesis: The division of housework is most equal in homogeneous dual-career couples and least equal in homogeneous no-career couples.