Kunnan palvelutuotannon kehittäminen: Case Varkaus

Kuntasektorilla on ollut pitkään havaittavissa siirtymistä markkinasuuntautuneisiin toteuttamisvaihtoehtoihin. Kilpailuttaminen ja ulkoistaminen ovat nousseet viime vuosina täydentämään ja tehostamaan kunnan palvelutuotannon toimintaa. Varkauden kaupungin kunnallisteknisen palvelutuotannon ulkoistaminen on tähän saakka Suomen suurin toteutunut ulkoistamishanke kuntien teknisessä toimessa. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli selvittää Varkauden kaupungin teknisen palvelutuotannon ulkoistamisen onnistumiseen vaikuttaneet keskeiset syyt ja kehittämisen kohteet. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksen keinoin sähköisenä kyselytutkimuksena Varkauden kaupungin teknisen toimen tilaajaorganisaatiolle. Tutkimusta täydennettiin kohdehenkilön haastattelulla. Opinnäytetyön tuloksissa nousi esille ulkoistamisen onnistumista tukevat menestystekijät ja palvelutuotannon johtamiseen liittyvät kehittämisen kohteet. Tulosten pohjalta esitettiin kehittämisehdotukset toimintamallissa huomioitaviin asioihin. Kehitystyön kulmakiviksi rakentuivat joustavuus, osapuolten välinen luottamus ja vuorovaikutuksellinen yhteistyö. Jatkotutkimuksissa olisi mielenkiintoista selvittää tiedonkulun kehittämistä organisaatiorajat ylittäviin käytäntöihin ja sähköisen vuorovaikutuskanavan käyttöönottoa palvelutuotannon johtamisessa.In the municipal sector there has been a shift towards the realization alternatives of market economy for some time now. In the past years, competitive bidding and outsourcing have been adopted in the municipal sector to improve the production of services. The outsourcing of the public utility services in the city of Varkaus has been the most significant realized outsourcing project in the field of municipal engineering in Finland. The aim of this thesis was to find out the reasons why the outsourcing of the public utility services was so successful in the city of Varkaus and also to discover the main areas of improvement. The research method of this case study was electronic questionnaire that was sent to the clients of the public utility services in the city of Varkaus. A journalistic interview was also conducted for some additional research material. The research results of the thesis explain the reasons why the outsourcing was successful and the areas of improvement in the production service management. Based on the results, improvement suggestions were presented for issues to be taken into account in the operating model. The key elements for further development were flexibility, trust between the actors and interactive cooperation. In further studies, it would be interesting to examine the possibilities of improving the flow of information over organizational boundaries and to examine the usage of interactive electronic medium in the management of production services

Health behaviour and health among Finnish adult population, Spring 2001

Liite: Aikuisväestön terveyskäyttäytymisseurannan julkaisuluettelo 1979-200

Health behaviour and health among Finnish adult population, Spring 2003

Liite: Aikuisväestön terveyskäyttäytymisseurannan (AVTK) julkaisuluettelo 1979-2003

Health behaviour and health among Finnish adult population, Spring 2002

Liite: Aikuisväestön terveyskäyttäytymisseurannan (AVTK) julkaisuluettelo 1979-200

Age, marital status and changes in dietary habits in later life: a 21-year follow-up among Finnish women

Objective To examine 21-year longitudinal changes in dietary habits and their associations with age and marital status among women aged 50-60 years at baseline. Design Prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort in the FINMONICA population-based risk factor survey with clinical assessments in 1982, 1992 and 2003. Dietary habits were assessed via self-reported consumption of foods typically contributing to SFA, cholesterol and sugar intakes in the Finnish diet. A dietary risk score based upon five items was used. Setting Kuopio region, Finland. Subjects Complete data from all three assessments for 103 women of the original cohort of 299 were included for two age groups: 50-54 and 55-60 years at baseline. Results Dietary habits improved between 1982 and 1992 and showed continued but less pronounced improvement between 1992 and 2003: within the younger age group, 78 % of the women reduced the number of dietary risk points from the 1982 to 2003 scores, whereas 3 % increased them and 19 % reported no change. In the older age group these percentages were 61 %, 23 % and 16 %, respectively. Women who remained married showed a steadier decline in dietary risk points than single women or women who were widows at the beginning of the follow-up. Conclusions Older women make positive changes to their dietary habits but the consistency of these changes may be affected by the ageing process, marital status and changes in the latter

Applying an Equity Lens to Tobacco-Control Policies and their Uptake in Six Western-European Countries

We identified policies that may be effective in reducing smoking among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and examined trends in their level of application between 1985 and 2000 in six western-European countries (Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain). We located studies from literature searches in major databases, and acquired policy data from international data banks and questionnaires distributed to tobacco policy organisations/researchers. Advertising bans, smoking bans in workplaces, removing barriers to smoking cessation therapies, and increasing the cost of cigarettes have the potential to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in smoking. Between 1985 and 2000, tobacco control policies in most countries have become more targeted to decrease the smoking behaviour of low-socioeconomic groups. Despite this, many national tobacco-control strategies in western-European countries still fall short of a comprehensive policy approach to addressing smoking inequalities