Health and welfare promotion consultation

The health and welfare promotion consultation, i.e. HYTE consultation, is held between the City of Helsinki and other HYTE operators on different themes of health and welfare promotion. According to the law, these consultations must be held at least once a year. Act on Organising Healthcare and Social Welfare Services (612/2021, Section 6).

Among others, the following health and well-being promotion themes are discussed at the HYTE consultation:

• objectives and measures
• cooperation
• monitoring
• operating models
• flow of information

The City of Helsinki’s HYTE consultation model is built as a shared model on a city-wide level and implemented on the principle of continuous development. The two-part model focuses on cooperation. The annual consultation is based on the existing welfare plan. By contrast, more extensive negotiations are held once every council period of office for the creation of a new welfare plan.

An extensive number of partners working with health and welfare promotion with the City are invited to the consultation. These include representatives of influencing bodies and theAdvisory Board for Organisations, actors of the HYTE working groups and networks and the HUS Group. The City of Helsinki is represented by members of the intersectoral HYTE lifecycle teams; the city-level HYTE preparation group; and draftspersons of the Elderly Citizens Council, the Council on Disability, the Youth Council and theAdvisory Board for Organisations.

The information gathered from the consultations will be used for purposes such as in the preparation of the City of Helsinki’s welfare plan and as a knowledge base for City strategies.

Helsinki last held these extensive HYTE negotiations in early 2025. Memoranda and a summary of the consultation will be prepared and included in an extensive welfare report (Stadin HYTE-barometri).

The annual round of consultations was held in spring 2026. The summaries of the annual consultations are published on this page.

HYTE consultation 2026

The spring 2026 health and welfare promotion consultation was based on the objectives of the 2026–2029 welfare plan.

The three separate, age-specific small groups of the consultation round discussed the problems underlying the objectives of the new welfare plan, the solving of which requires the City and its partners to work together. The groups also brainstormed good practices, potential solutions and opportunities for cooperation around these objectives.

The HYTE consultation was attended by 97 representatives of the City’s cooperation partners and 36 members of City staff, 133 people in total. The information gained from the consultation will be used to draw up measures for the new welfare plan for Helsinki.

The HYTE consultation between the City of Helsinki and the HUS Group will take place in autumn 2026.

Results of the 2026 HYTE consultation

Children, young people and families with children

Goal 1: Strengthening the confidence of children and young people to influence their own future.

• • Timely and life-long parenting support, for example by expanding the maternity and child health clinic model and bringing support into families’ everyday environments.
• • Low-threshold mental health support and safe adults in schools and during leisure time help strengthen hope and resilience.
• • Genuine inclusion and meeting places (relaxed spaces where people can spend time without stress) support a sense of community and empowerment.

Goal 2: Decreasing the proportion of children and young people with low physical activity.

• Making physical activity part of everyday life and the school day, for example by taking breaks from sedentary activities, planning more active lessons and scheduling hobbies directly in connection with the school day.
• Low-threshold, non-competitive recreational activities and the promotion of spontaneous physical activity will lower the threshold for participation, especially for those who are not very active physically.
• Accessibility and equality require multilingual communication, the removal of financial barriers and the promotion of adaptive physical activity.

Working age people

Goal 1: Reducing loneliness and feelings of exclusion among young adults at risk of social exclusion.

• Clarifying service pathways and strengthening transitional support so that young adults are not left alone in their transitions between services.
• Low-threshold meeting places, peer-to-peer activities and outreach work are key to reaching people who are lonely and out of the reach of the services.
• Structures of multidisciplinary cooperation, in which the City and the organisations consciously work together.

Goal 2: Increasing the physical activity of working-age people.

• Removing barriers to everyday physical activity in urban environments (e.g. providing safe and accessible routes, winter maintenance) and integrating physical activity into work and everyday environments.
• Clear, multi-channel communication and active service coordination help people find the forms of exercise that suit them the best.
• Broadening perceptions (physical activity is not just a hobby but rather small everyday actions) will lower the threshold, especially for groups with low physical activity levels.

Older persons

Goal 1: Reducing loneliness and exclusion among older people.

• Multi-channel, accessible communication and active service coordination to help older people find existing services.
• Community meeting places, peer and volunteer activities and intergenerational activities strengthen social relationships.
• Addressing digital exclusion, for example through a wide and diverse range of digital support, increasing digital motivation and maintaining non-digital service channels, is important in reaching the most vulnerable individuals.

Goal 2: Increasing the physical activity of older people.

• An age-friendly and accessible urban environment, where exercise and activity are possible close to day-to-day life.
• Personalised service coordination, companion services and volunteer friend activities support people in getting out and about, especially when their functional capacity is reduced.
• Making the importance of everyday physical activity concrete and maintaining positive, empathic communications help strengthen motivation.