MoniSuomi study collects health and wellbeing data from people born abroad to develop integration measures 

The Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is involved in funding research conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) that focuses on the health and wellbeing of people born abroad as well as services they receive. The data collected in the MoniSuomi study can be used to develop the promotion of integration and to improve the equality of the immigrant population.

The MoniSuomi study produces data on immigrants’ perceived state of health, use of health services, participation, sense of belonging, discrimination and employment. It is important to have reliable information so that the state of integration can be assessed and integration policies and decisions can be planned and implemented.  

“Successful integration improves the wellbeing of immigrants and speeds up their access to employment. An accurate and comprehensive picture of the situation will help us develop integration measures in the best possible way and thereby increase the effectiveness of the measures,” says Minna Säävälä, Chief Specialist at the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration. 

MoniSuomi helps to assess successful integration

The Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration maintains the Integration Indicators database, which can be used to monitor and develop integration-related phenomena. The indicators focus on five themes: employment, education, wellbeing, participation and two-way integration.

However, it is not possible to measure the success of integration at the phenomenon level solely based on register data. Instead, reliable and up-to-date information from surveys, such as the MoniSuomi survey, is also needed. For this reason, the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration funds the MoniSuomi study and makes use of the results in its indicators database, for example.

MoniSuomi is part of the Healthy Finland Survey

The MoniSuomi study is part of the Healthy Finland Survey, an extensive national study recently launched by THL. The study will collect data on the health of adults living in Finland, risk factors for chronic diseases, health habits, quality of life, inclusion and functional capacity as well as experiences of health and social services. 

A sample of 18,600 people who were born and whose parents were born outside Finland will be selected from the register of the Finnish Digital Agency for the MoniSuomi survey. The survey will be conducted in 20 languages, and the questions are mainly the same as in the Healthy Finland Survey. In that way, the data can be compared between different population groups. 

The results of the MoniSuomi study will be published on the websites of THL, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the kotoutuminen.fi online service in spring 2023. The cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Turku support and fund the MoniSuomi study too.

Inquiries:
Minna Säävälä, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 295 047 260