Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Home

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Richard0417
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 11:16 pm

Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Home

Post by Richard0417 » Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:09 am

Hi, I'm new here and hoping for some guidance for my mother who is expressing a strong desire to return to her hometown Oulu for her final years. She's 84 and needs assistance in daily living so she's looking for sheltered/retirement housing. Although she is a naturalised US citizen, we have been told she regain her Finnish citizenship by Declaration. She still has plenty of family in the Oulu area but none can offer her housing. After 62 years away, her Finnish language skills are rusty but she's fairly confident they will come back. We'd be so grateful if anyone could share their experiences of an aged person returning to live in Finland, the social welfare system and any resources like a "roadmap" of steps to follow. Thanks!



Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Home

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Rip
Posts: 5582
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:08 pm

Re: Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Hom

Post by Rip » Thu Feb 25, 2016 10:02 am

Richard0417 wrote:Although she is a naturalised US citizen, we have been told she regain her Finnish citizenship by Declaration.
Has regained it or just can regain it? If she hasn't actually done that then she could start with it.

No experience, but some issues that come to my mind:
If she is not financially well of enough to pay what she needs regarding care from her own pocket, she should not too high expectations of the level of care that she would get here. Maybe the relatives in Oulu can help with information (there is some variation also locally). Rather often the cities like to keep the elderly people in their own homes (because of cost savings), with some visiting help coming there, even after the limit has been reached that her relatives think the person in question can't properly manage that way. Realistically it does not seem she would have very close relatives to help (possibly by blood but not by actual level of contact if she has lived there for over 60 years).

I don't think there is anyway of getting into the publicly funded options before she is actually living here, so there should be some other temporary plan in any case.

If she is in moderately decent shape and pretty well off financially, then there are more options. Even in that case the day will likely come when the former does not apply any more. Does she think the options here and even then better than would be available there?
Last edited by Rip on Thu Feb 25, 2016 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

betelgeuse
Posts: 4353
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Hom

Post by betelgeuse » Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:11 pm

Richard0417 wrote:We'd be so grateful if anyone could share their experiences of an aged person returning to live in Finland, the social welfare system and any resources like a "roadmap" of steps to follow. Thanks!
Once here so we would be entitled to assessment of need for services (palvelutarpeen arviointi).

https://www.thl.fi/fi/web/lapset-nuoret ... -arviointi

Consider contact social services for Oulu to see what they say before moving in. I agree with RIP that they try to keep people in their homes as long as possible. In Helsinki I heard a quote that there's no hope as long as the customer can hold a utensils and visit the toilet on their own.

Flossy1978
Posts: 1395
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:38 pm

Re: Advice Needed for Senior Citizen Who Wants to Return Hom

Post by Flossy1978 » Fri Feb 26, 2016 6:32 pm

My friend's elderly mother keeps having falls and even then the city won't put her in a home.

Personally, unless your mother is well-off financially it's not morally right to return to Finland after 60 years away. Not helping to pay into the system of which she would undoubtedly take a huge chunk out of as she is elderly and will probably need a lot of financial services.

Are you sure she just doesn't think the grass is greener on the other side? It really isn't.

I work with the elderly. What your mother wants to do could take a huge toll on her. Finland isn't the same as 60 years ag. I hope she realises this.


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