D. Major issues highlighted by an interview with staff

Ms. Helle Känd, founder of the NGO and manager of service provision, highlighted the following in an interview in November 2022:

• There are challenges in finding educated and professional staff who at the same time match the service provision requirements. Given price increases, salary expectations are higher. It is important to check the background of the staff, as if formal requirements are not met, professionality alone is not sufficient.
• It is crucial that staff are able to handle the workload. The local authority is offering operational grants to cover the support a person needs. In the event that a service user needs to attend a doctor’s appointment or would like to participate in a cultural event, the ability to appoint a support person to help is crucial.
• There is a need to become digitally competent so as to be able to help users to navigate the virtual world and e-services the Estonian society is actively developing while user groups are in need of assistance to be able to use those services.
• There is a need for a general supported decision-making mechanism, which currently is not developed. Relevant stakeholders are looking into options to elaborate a supported decision-making mechanism and educate stakeholders. However, these processes have been relatively slow.
• There is a need to ensure that the interval care for adults’ service is maintaining its highly flexible provision level. The complexity of combining the needs of users and the need to provide staff is a challenge; the current hourly rate alone is impossible to maintain in the long term.