Sitra launches a funding call: Proactive social and health care as part of everyday practice in the wellbeing services counties

Sitra is launching its third funding call (in Finnish) to accelerate the shift towards proactive social and health care services. Being proactive means identifying people’s wellbeing and health risks, as well as diseases, well in advance using data and artificial intelligence. This allows people to be directed to the right services at the right time.

Sitra’s two previous funding calls for proactive social and health care have bolstered the wellbeing services counties’ ability to use analytics and artificial intelligence to identify risks.

“With this funding call, we are taking a decisive step from individual pilots towards establishing proactive operating models and bringing them into wide-scale, permanent use in the wellbeing services counties,” emphasises Tuula Tiihonen, a senior lead at Sitra’s Digihealth project.

The aim is to prevent problems from escalating, thereby reducing human suffering and demand for more intensive social and health care services. In the long term, the shift to proactive social and health care will help Finland safeguard people’s health and wellbeing as the population ages and public social and health care services face severe fiscal pressure.

In addition, a legislative reform on proactive social and health care that entered into force in June requires – more than ever – the primary health care to provide preventive services.

The call is aimed at the wellbeing services counties, the HUS Group and the City of Helsinki, which are responsible for organising public social and health care services. A total of approximately one million euros is available.

Bringing proactive approaches into leadership and everyday practice

The shift to proactive social and health care requires that the service pathways, division of labour among professionals, and data- and AI-based solutions to be closely integrated. The call seeks projects that will combine the risk assessment the professionals need with active interaction with the residents of the wellbeing services county.

For these changes to truly take root in everyday practice, data-driven early intervention and targeted prevention must become an integral part of the wellbeing services county’s strategy and the development of its service system.

Projects should promote, among others, the following:

• Shifting the focus of services from reactive care to prevention and early support, targeted at the county’s risk groups.
• Renewing the division of labour among professionals and service processes so that time is freed from routine tasks for proactive work and supporting residents.
• Embedding prevention into the wellbeing services county’s strategic leadership and financial planning.
• Adopting digital and AI-based tools based on alerts and risk assessment as part of changing the operating model.
• Monitoring progress through self-assessment and preliminary indicators.

The funding call is part of Sitra’s broader effort, together with partners, to renew the public sector and significantly improve its productivity through the use of data and artificial intelligence.

Detailed information about the funding call and application instructions can be found on the funding page (in Finnish). Applications must be submitted no later than 3 November 2026 at 12:00 noon via Sitra’s electronic service.