Student well-being and health 

The Finnish Student Health Service FSHS (YTHS in Finnish) is responsible for student health care. The services of the FSHS are available to all students studying for a degree (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees) at universities and universities of applied sciences who are registered as attending for the semester. FSHS student health services are not available to students in open upper secondary education or to incoming international exchange students.

Students do not have to pay the healthcare fee if they have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom.

Students who have social security coverage from a EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom and who are studying for any of the degrees listed above may use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service.

The FSHS is responsible for:

• organizing health and medical care for students
• promoting students’ health and learning ability, and
• promoting the well-being of the learning environment and community.

You can find out more about FSHS services and how to apply for them on the FSHS website.

Students pay the semesterly health care fee to Kela and should remember to pay the fee on their own initiative. Read more about the health care fee on the Kela website.

Service locations at Humak locations

FSHS’s service locations, including oral health services:

• Helsinki
• Turku
• Jyväskylä
• Kuopio

FSHS’s own service location:

• Otaniemi in Espoo (students at Kauniainen campus)

The FSHS service location for partners

• Nurmijärvi (only designated students can use the partner service locations)

The service point for multiform and online degree students is determined by the location to which the studies belong. However, the student can use FSHS’s own service point, which is most beneficial for them.

Under update.

The early support approach at Humak means an approach based on early intervention, supported by an open and confidential atmosphere between staff and students, and among students. If a member of the Humak community has a concern about a student or group, they have a duty to intervene. The experience of concern is a subjective emotion, so an individual’s own experience of concern is sufficient.

For more information about the policy, please contact a student counselor or the Head of Education Development.

A healthy, safe, and equitable learning environment is made up of many factors. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has published a guide with practical advice for institutions and their members on how to achieve a healthy, safe and prosperous learning environment. You can access the guide here (in Finnish only).

Assessment visits to learning environments are carried out every three years in higher education institutions and the implementation of the changes identified during the inspection is followed up annually with a follow-up visit. A student representative is always present at the inspections. The FSHS is responsible for the visits to the learning environments.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the learning environment. It is the responsibility of students to follow the instructions given and to report any safety deficiencies they find. Read more about Humak’s safety guidelines in the Security section.

Humak has a separate equality and equal opportunities plan for staff and students from 2021. A gender equality survey is carried out at Humak every three years, and practical measures to promote equality and equal opportunities are agreed on the basis of this survey.

You can find the Equality plan for Students here.

Instructions for Reporting Suspected Indoor Air Quality Issues:

1. If a student suspects that the indoor air quality of a classroom or other facilities is causing health problems, they should inform their HOPS coach about the symptoms they have experienced and the space(s) where these symptoms occur.

2. The HOPS coach forwards this information to the campus coordinator, who compiles data on the affected facilities and the prevalence of the problem.

3. The campus coordinator forwards the information to the Administrative Director, who will take the necessary steps to investigate the indoor air quality issues.

If the health problems persist, the student is advised to contact student health services.

At Humak, you can turn to the student welfare officer (kuraattori) if you need support with psychological, social, or everyday well-being. Treatment of mental health disorders and psychological assessments are provided by the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). In an acute crisis, please go to the urgent care services at your local well-being center without making an appointment.

Below is a list of external organizations where you can find support for mental well-being:

Mentalhub.fi / Mielenterveystalo offers information, support and care for mental well-being – reliably, free of charge and without logging in.

SelfChat: FSHS has a mental health service line in SelfChat.

Nyyti ry promotes the mental health and ability to study of students in Finland.

The Rehabilitation Foundation is a forerunner of rehabilitation and their vision is to be the most engaging development environment for rehabilitation.

MIELI ry crisis support: Help and mental health support to people in difficult life situations and crises. Crisis helpline, chat and counselling.

You can turn to the Student Welfare Officer if you need support with mental, social and everyday wellbeing. The Student Welfare Officer provides low-threshold conversational support and responds to crisis situations, supporting you through them. They support you with mental health and coping challenges, promote social relationships and sense of community, and help with everyday life management (e.g. housing, finances, accessing services). The Student Welfare Officer also identifies and supports you with neuropsychiatric challenges.

What matters can you contact the school welfare officer about?

• Stalled studies
• Returning to studies after a long break
• Study skills
• Time management and daily life management
• Issues related to academic self-esteem
• Coping and stress
• Studying with an illness or other challenging life situation

Number of Appointments

You can book 1–5 appointments with the school welfare officer during the academic year. In crisis situations and particularly challenging cases, I will use my discretion. We will plan together an appointment schedule that best supports your studies.

Limitations of the Student Welfare Service

If you are in intensive therapy (e.g., 2x per week) or in Oma väylä rehabilitation, I will generally allocate the student welfare service resources to other students, so that as many as possible receive the support they need. However, we can agree on lighter follow-up (e.g., check-up meetings at the beginning of each semester), or I will direct you to other support services if necessary.

Client Information System

The student welfare service uses the MinduuPro client information system, where key client information is stored. Information is stored to ensure the quality of service, to safeguard the legal protection and interests of both the client and the school welfare officer, and to collect anonymous statistical data. Conversations with the school welfare officer are confidential, as is the information collected in the system. Only the school welfare officer can see the information they have recorded in MinduuPro. You have the right to review information about yourself recorded in the system.

How do I book an appointment with the Student Welfare Officer?

Appointments with the Student Welfare Officer can be easily booked through the Bookings website. You can see available times directly and book a time that suits you whenever it’s convenient for you – booking is possible at any time of day.

The booking site can be found here: Bookings – Outlook

New appointments are added to the site regularly. If all times appear to be booked, check back again later.

You can also contact the Student Welfare Officer by email or Teams message. However, please make appointments primarily through the Bookings website.

Important: If you cannot make your booked appointment, remember to cancel it through Bookings (or by email at kuraattori@humak.fi)! This way, another student can book that time slot. A non-cancelled appointment will count as one visit.

Student Welfare Officer contact details

– Tiia Herala, kuraattori@humak.fi, tel. 050 453 5040

Each Humak degree has a designated student counsellor who will help you if you encounter challenges during your studies. Student councellors work with you in a variety of ways. You can agree on an individual meeting face-to-face or meet online. Students can also participate in monthly workshops and theme days organized by the student counsellors. The student counsellors also act as lecturers responsible for the well-being of students in their area of responsibility.

Student Counsellors’ contact details:

Bachelor’s degree; Culture manager and Interpreting. 
Master’s degree; Interpreting Development and European Master in Sign Language Interpreting (EUMASLI)
– Hanna Putkonen, email: hanna.putkonen@humak.fi

Bachelor’s degree; Community Educator
– Tarja Jukkala, email: janu-opo@humak.fi
– Katja Munter, email: janu-opo@humak.fi

Bachelor’s degree; Adeventure education and Work community development
Master’s degree; Culture manager and Community Educator
– Anna-Maija Riutta, email: anna-maija.riutta@humak.fi

You can turn to a Student Welfare Officer, if you need support for your psychological, social and everyday well-being.

You can find out more about the division of work between Study Counsellors and Student Welfare Officer here.

Humak has a joint student welfare group for the entire university of applied sciences, which is responsible for the university’s statutory tasks in matters concerning student welfare and directs the activities of regional student welfare groups.

Regional student well-being groups consist of teachers, study counselors, and students responsible for student well-being. Regional groups seek solutions to regional problems affecting student well-being and organize special support measures for the regions. The regional student welfare groups inform and implement the decisions of the Humak-level student welfare group.

Pausing the day is important and a short break will bring energy to the day. As a Humak student, you can take advantage of the break exercise app BreakPro. The break exercise app reminds you to pause work and study.

The programme includes over 120 videos, from short break exercise instructions to audio maintenance and mindfulness videos. The directors are Sami Kuronen, Samuli Edelman (FI), Benny Törnroos, Riko Eklund (SV) and Richard Stanley (EN, RU). The videos also have subtitles.

Check out more detailed instructions here.

The programme can be downloaded from the BreakPro website and installed on the Humak workstation itself, as it does not require administrator installation rights. Log in to the application with Humak’s email address firstname.lastname@humak.fi.

Student Union HUMAKO is there to support the well-being of all Humak’s students.

Tutors

The tutors provide peer support with questions related to studying and free time. They are also students at Humak, so they understand your experiences as a student well. You don’t have to be alone with your questions! Here you can find more specific instructions for how to contact a tutor.

Sport and well-being services for a discounted price

As a member of HUMAKO,  you receive discounts and benefits for different well-being, sporting and coaching services. Read more about membership benefits and becoming a member.

Community and networking

Through HUMAKO, you will meet new people, form networks and possibly find your student community. Check out all HUMAKO’s events and activities from the event calendar (in Finnish) or join as an active member (in Finnish).

Your feedback matters

HUMAKO wants to hear your opinion on matters and points to improve. Give feedback on anything related to studies!

The role of tutors in the Student Union HUMAKO is to support students and promote their well-being. There are tutors from different year groups and education programmes and they are all at your disposal. There is no problem too small or too big to contact a tutor about.

You can reach a tutor:

• online: on the eTutor platform or by email at etutor@humako.net
• at Student Union events: HUMAKO’s event calendar (in Finnish)
• personally on campus

The university chaplain is part of the team of professionals who take care of student well-being and guidance at Humak. You can have confidential conversations with your university chaplain and get help and support for the problems in your life. The discussions are free of charge. You can contact the school chaplain about issues such as:

• Relationship problems
• Stress
• Anxiety/depression
• Fears, aggression, sadness
• Crises in life
• Loneliness
• Bullying and discrimination
• Attitudes, values and meaning in life

The university chaplain is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, who you can contact regardless of whether you are a member of another religious group or belong to any religious group. The professionalism of a school chaplain is to meet you exactly as you are.

Kauniainen: Maria Puotiniemi, maria.puotiniemi@evl.fi, 050 544 7535

Helsinki: Marjut Mulari (Maikki), marjut.mulari@evl.fi, 050 468 5086 

Jyväskylä: Johanna Tikkanen, johanna.tikkanen@evl.fi, 050 521 5418 

Kuopio: Satu Karjalainen, satu.karjalainen@evl.fi, 040 484 8276

Tampere: Kimmo Nieminen, kimmo.nieminen@evl.fi, 040 484 6645 

Turku: Atte Airaksinen, atte.airaksinen@evl.fi, 040 341 7349