Goals for Municipal and County Elections in 2025 – Nyyti ry

• Promote and Prevent
• Take Care!
• Low-threshold Support

Explore Nyyti ry’s goals for the municipal and regional elections in 2025 below, or download Nyyti ry’s objectives for the 2025 municipal and regional elections (pdf)

Promoting wellbeing and health is a statutory basic task of municipalities – this also means promoting mental health. Mental health can and should be promoted in all decision-making, not only in health policy but also in decisions on education, land use and the environment. Municipalities have plenty of opportunities to create conditions that promote mental health.

Psychological strain is known to be more prevalent among higher education students than the rest of the population, so supporting their mental health is particularly important. Municipalities must take the mental health of students into account not only for human needs but also for economic reasons. For example, due to the TE service reform, the success of young people and students entering the labour market is visible also in local government finances. In addition, sick leaves for mental health reasons affect the region’s workforce. The foundation for future work ability is created during studies, and students’ good mental health is an investment in the well-being of tomorrow’s working life and society. Research has shown that the most impactful and cost-effective way to address mental health issues is prevention

• Municipalities must play an active role in creating conditions that promote mental health. The promotion of mental health is a cross-cutting part of municipal activities, and the mental health impacts of the activities are taken into account in decision-making.
• Municipalities have defined clear objectives for the promotion of mental health, the implementation of which has been planned and resources and is monitored.
• Municipal strategies, municipal welfare plans and reports as well as other guidance documents contain entries that promote the mental health of students..
• Municipalities ensure sufficient resources for upper secondary education and support offered to students. The mental health competence of professionals working in educational institutions is strengthened by providing training. Municipalities also take into account the pleasantness, safety and equality of learning environments.

Provisions on student welfare are laid down in the Pupil and Student Welfare Act, and its task is to provide early support and prevent problems. At the moment, however, student welfare is not implemented as required by law, as wellbeing services counties have not been able to secure the statutory services of student welfare. In addition, a great deal of responsibility for the treatment of young people with mental health problems has fallen on the shoulders of student welfare, which has resulted in insufficient time for preventive work.

• Wellbeing services counties are obliged to ensure the statutory implementation of upper secondary student welfare. In student welfare services, it is essential to ensure their availability and accessibility but also to consider the emphasis of the services in preventive work. The financial operating conditions of student welfare must be guaranteed, and the services must be close to the student.
• When wellbeing services counties are responsible for student welfare, it is particularly important to ensure seamless cooperation and the flow of information between educational institutions and wellbeing services counties.

The difficulty of accessing treatment is a challenge in getting help for mental health problems. Those in need of help must be able to receive appropriate treatment quickly so that the problems do not worsen because of the delay in access.

• Wellbeing services counties must create clear and functional care pathways so that access to care is smooth and those in need can be directed to the right kind of care without problems. Particular attention should be paid to the transition point between young people and adults. The services must be communicated in an understandable manner, and linguistic accessibility must also be taken into account in communications.
• Wellbeing services counties must implement a therapy guarantee comprehensively. Patient-orientation, a needs-based approach, the use of evidence-based methods and ensuring rapid access to treatment are key. The acute need for a therapy guarantee extends to young adults, so it is essential that wellbeing services counties extend their therapy guarantee to all under 29-year-olds under the Youth Act. In addition, the realisation of equality must be taken into account in the implementation of the therapy guarantee.
• Seamless care pathways must be ensured for higher education students between the FSHS and the mental health services of wellbeing services counties, especially in terms of psychiatric specialised medical care. Psychiatric care must be provided without delay for everyone, not just those under the age of 23. Delays in appropriate care weaken the ability to study and function and prolong recovery.

By supporting the work of organisations to promote mental health, municipalities and wellbeing services counties can prevent not only human but also financial costs caused by mental health problems. Organisations are important partners in promoting mental health, as they are well-equipped to understand the specific needs of target groups, provide low-threshold support and engage volunteers.

• Municipalities and wellbeing services counties work closely with organisations to promote mental health and invest in creating partnerships.
• Municipalities support third-sector actors promoting mental health by granting operating grants and providing facilities for their use.