Eva-Maria
Strömsholm
Ostrobothnia
"The patients and nurses voice"
I am a happy, positive, and active woman who loves spending time with family and friends.
I am a registred nurse, a primary school teacher, and hold a Master's degree with developmental psychology as my main subject.
Right now, I work as a nurse, and my key areas of focus are cancer-related issues. I am active inside Finland and in Europe in various cancer organizations and working groups, aiming to develop cancer care and ensure that patients receive the support they need, including psychosocial support, peer support, and rehabilitation.
It is also important for me to be able to spend time in the forest and by the sea. To recharge my batteries, I take long forest walks, which is great therapy for recovering from my various duties.
I want to work for the wellbeing of residents across the entire Ostrobothnia region. In order for children and young people to feel healthy, we need to take action now, focusing on preventive measures. We should invest in mental wellbeing and work to prevent mental health issues.
Positions of trust:
- Member of the City Council in Vasa.
- Member of the Education and Teaching Board.
- Substitute member of the City Board in Vasa.
- Substitute member of the Ostrobothnia Welfare Area Council.
- Member of the Personnel Section. in the welfare area.
I have served for many years on the board of the Ostrobothnia Cancer Association and on the delegation of the Finnish Cancer Society.
I am a member of the Social and Health Policy Committee of Svenska Folktinget.
Vicechair at Gynecological Cancerpatients in Finland.
Important political topics
High-quality health care
Nursing and healthcare are important, and we need safe and high-quality care in Ostrobothnia. The availability of high-quality specialized healthcare is key.
In specialized healthcare, there must be opportunities for treatment across different specialties, and achieving this requires resources as well as skilled personnel.
Nurses and doctors and other healt care professionals are one of the most important elements for healthcare to function. Without staff or with insufficient personnel, we cannot offer high-quality care in Ostrobothnia.
We should invest in the personnel working in healthcare, while also trying to attract back those who no longer work in healthcare or nursing for various reasons. We need everyone to care for our younger and older generations.
Patients have the right to get an appointment to the doctor in time and possible treatment for serious illnesses. This is very important, and we must shorten the waiting times to the doctors.
As a nurse, I hope that the welfare area staff loves their job and feel capable of doing their important work. At the same time, I hope that patients can quickly access care without delays, and that Ostrobothnia has sufficient resources to ensure we can treat everyone in time.
Safe elderly care
The number of elderly people is increasing, and therefore it is important to have both personnel and resources to invest in elderly care. However, this does not mean that we should cut from other areas. Specifically, specialized healthcare, primary healthcare, as well as care for children and young people are also equally important.
It is important to support the elderly and their relatives as much as possible, but without placing too much pressure on the relatives. We need to be able to care for our elderly in other ways as well.
As a nurse, I do not see the solution in elderly care as reducing bed places or closing wards. This has already been done, and there are no more savings to be made. Instead, we must remember that not all elderly people can or want to live at home, and they may not be able to manage with the support that home healthcare provides. At some point, an elderly person must be transferred to a nursing home, and possibly to round-the-clock care. These places must be ready when that time comes.
For elderly people suffering from memory diseases, it is important that they have the opportunity to participate in various activities that support their independent life but also help their relatives who are caring for a person with memory disease. In this, memory associations are important, and I hope that they will continue their work and expand their activities.
I hope that in Ostrobothnia, no more wards or nursing homes will be closed, and that the number of bed places will not be reduced further. This has already been done, and now we must look forward.
Thriving children, adolescents and families
Children and young people are the future, and it is important to invest in them. In Ostrobothnia, we need preventive measures to reduce mental health issues, but also to focus on supporting children.
School counselors and school psychologists are important for children. They are adults who can help children and young people, and therefore, it is crucial that schools have sufficient resources to hire more counselors and psychologists within the welfare area.
Children should also be able to access care and treatments or see counselors and school psychologists more quickly. We need to increase resources here so that waiting times for doctors do not grow longer, but instead are shortened.
Preventive work and wellbeing also include various screenings, such as for breast cancer and cervical cancer. These screenings are important and reliable, and women can attend them for free in their own municipality. The welfare area organizes screenings, and it is essential that they are close to residents so that it is easy to attend.
Candidates answers in election machine
1 / 13
It is important that the wellbeing services county of Ostrobothnia has a central hospital with full emergency services.
There is no doubt that we need a strong central hospital in our welfare area.
2 / 13
The geographical distance to services is more important than whether the services are located within municipal boundaries.
There must be enough services for the residents at a close distance. If the service is in another municipality but is nearby, this is important.
3 / 13
There should be more mobile services, such as health buses and remote consultations.
These mobile services support regular healthcare and will become increasingly important in the future. However, there are also people who cannot use digital services, and for them, there must be alternative options. Likewise, it is important to remember that not all illnesses can be managed, for example, through remote consultations.
4 / 13
Wellbeing services counties must increase investments in preventive healthcare, even if it means that other types of care receive fewer resources.
I don’t believe that other care areas should suffer just because a certain type of care gets more funding. All care is important, including specialized healthcare, primary healthcare, and preventive care. Still, I see preventive care as an important part that should receive sufficient resources.
5 / 13
A personal doctor system should be introduced to improve continuity of care, even if it requires extra resources for a while.
If we know that the primary care doctor system works and will work in a way that allows residents to access care more quickly, then it should be invested in. But first, it must be tested and evaluated.
6 / 13
Wellbeing services counties should prohibit the use of temporary agency doctors.
This is tricky. Those doctors are expensive, and my opinion is that the use of those doctors should be reduced as much as possible. However, in certain cases, when the welfare area does not have its own doctors in a specific field, these doctors are needed for patients to receive care. This is important to remember. So, don\'t ban them, that’s too extreme, but reduce and review the processes.
7 / 13
More shelter spaces should be established to help individuals subjected to violence.
We should review how many spaces we have and how well they are sufficient. At the same time, we should think about preventive measures—what can the welfare area do to ensure that a person’s situation doesn’t escalate to the point where they need a shelter space? And if/when a person needs a shelter space, it must be available!
8 / 13
To shorten waiting times, wellbeing services counties should increase the use of service vouchers.
Service vouchers can be a good option to use at times. But first, the welfare area must consider how to change processes to shorten waiting times, and if that doesn’t succeed, patients should of course have the opportunity to receive a service voucher to get timely care.
9 / 13
Healthcare should be centralized if it saves money or improves quality.
We must not centralize too much! Some of the services must remain in the municipalities. However, within certain specialties, care should still be available, for example, at a central hospital to ensure proper care for the patient.
10 / 13
Funding and resources for rescue services should be prioritized higher, even if it means cuts in other sectors.
\"Once again, you can\'t think of investing in one part while cutting back on another part of healthcare. Emergency services are very important for quickly getting patients to care. But you can\'t prioritize this higher, as there should also be functioning care in areas such as specialized healthcare, primary healthcare, and preventive care.
11 / 13
Undocumented migrants should have the right to non-urgent healthcare.
12 / 13
More emphasis should be placed on training healthcare staff in gender diversity and sexual diversity.
Maybe not \'prioritize to a greater extent,\' but definitely more education for healthcare staff on this topic.
13 / 13
If you could give a superpower to your future political leader, what would it be?
Well, tough question. Maybe not directly any of these, but wisdom is always good to have. Despite wisdom, one still can\'t make perfect decisions.