In this newsletter:

• FSHS's summer opening hours 2025
• The FSHS offers mental health services in accordance with the new therapy guarantee requirements to higher education students aged under 23
• An online service form for STD testing

FSHS's summer opening hours 2025

We will serve students throughout the summer. The assessment of the need for treatment and our digital services will serve you on weekdays according to normal opening hours.  Local services will also be well available. Possible exceptions in local services have been listed on our website.

Read more: FSHS´s summer opening hours 2025 - FSHS

The FSHS offers mental health services in accordance with the new therapy guarantee requirements to higher education students aged under 23

A therapy guarantee, intended to ensure speedy access to mental health services within primary care for those under 23, has started on 1 May 2025. The new requirements also apply to services provided by the FSHS. 

The goal of the therapy guarantee is to ensure early low-threshold help for mental health problems. For young people aged under 23, brief psychotherapy and psychological interaction-based psychosocial therapy within primary care must start within 28 days after need for treatment was assessed.

Read more: The FSHS will offer mental health services in accordance with the new therapy guarantee requirements to higher education students aged under 23 - FSHS

An online service form for STD testing

In order to be tested, students need to complete a symptom assessment on the form provided in Self or call the FSHS’s assessment of the need for treatment team. A healthcare professional will then assess the situation and decide which examinations are needed, and will contact the student to refer them for testing.

Having a professional perform this assessment means that each student’s need for testing will be thoroughly evaluated.

Read more: An online service form for STD testing - FSHS

Students’ Mental Health Week 2025

Student Mental Health Week is a campaign coordinated by the Student Wellbeing Network, which aims to highlight the mental health of students and build a more mentally healthy study culture.

Student Mental Health Week will be celebrated in week 15 of 2025 (7-13 April 2025).

This year, the theme of the campaign is “Student, how are you?”. The idea behind the theme is to highlight the voices and experiences of students. What are the things that currently support or burden students’ mental health and coping?

Read more about Students’ Mental Health Week

Compassion helps in managing social anxiety

A better piece of mind is possible even without completely overcoming difficult emotions, says trainer psychotherapist Maaret Kallio.

Read the interview

First-year student, please complete the HealthStart questionnaire!

If you started completing your first degree at an institution of higher education in the spring semester of 2025, you can now complete the HealthStart questionnaire in the Self online service. After completing the HealthStart questionnaire, you’ll receive feedback on the state of your health and may be referred to health promotion services provided by the FSHS. Read more about the health questionnaire.

New student, welcome to FSHS! The FSHS provides students with support for well-being and health. FSHS services are available to you when you have registered to be present for the spring semester. Read more or watch a video on our website (fshs.fi)

Interested in FSHS’s group activities? During the spring semester, we organize various groups related to health and well-being both at FSHS service units and online. There will be groups starting still later in the spring, including one English-speaking StressLess group starting in April. Read more

In February we’ll celebrate a themed week on oral health. During the week 7 we will spend a themed week on oral health. In English, the theme week is called "How is your mouth". This year we will talk about quitting nicotine. The theme week will be visible on FSHS´s digital channels, and in some towns FSHS professionals will visit campuses or the lobbies of the service units with this theme. So now it's worth following the FSHS website and social media channels!

The FSHS day is held on 20 March 2025. The FSHS day webinar will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. Suvi Uski, PhD and a social media researcher, will talk about the addictive nature of social media. The event will be held in Finnish, but we will also publish content on the topic in English.

Check out FSHS event calendar. Have you already noticed our event calendar on our website? Events organised or co-organised by FSHS can be found there. We will add information for attending and registering for the event closer to their dates. FSHS event calendar

Check the opening times for Christmas season and New Year. The FSHS will serve students on weekdays during the Christmas holidays. FSHS’s digital and remote services will be available on all weekdays. Local services will also be well available. If necessary, you will be directed from the assessment of the need for treatment to either a remote appointment or to a local appointment to another open service unit. Read more from our website.

The groups for the spring semester 2025 have been published. During the spring semester, the FSHS offers various group activities related to health and well-being. In a group you can get support for your health and life management. We are planning two StressLess coaching groups and one Depression school group in English for the spring semester 2025. You can also find more groups in Finnish or in Swedish. Please note that our instructions for applying to groups depend on the group. More detailed instructions can be found on our website under the description of each group. Read more

The healthcare fee for students in higher education to fall slightly next year. The amounts of the student healthcare fees for higher education students in 2025 have been confirmed by a government decree. Next year, the student-specific healthcare fee will be EUR 71.20 per academic year, or EUR 35.60 per term. The students in higher education should pay the health care fee to Kela for both the spring and autumn semesters unprompted. Read more

Tips for beating the winter blues. Winter depression affects about 1–2% of the population. It’s also possible to experience seasonal symptoms in the winter without having diagnosable depression. This is referred to as having the winter blues, which affects about 25% of the population. The symptoms in winter blues are milder than those in winter depression.

We updated an article in Health information resource pages, where you can read how you can try to alleviate symptoms caused by the darkness. Read self-care tips for winter blues.

Information about influenza vaccinations at the FSHS. Influenza vaccinations start at the FSHS mainly in November. Social and healthcare students in higher education, as well as students belonging to a risk group can receive their influenza vaccinations from the FSHS free of charge. Vaccination arrangements vary between towns. Read more

First-year student, please complete the HealthStart questionnaire! If you started completing your first degree at an institution of higher education in the autumn semester 2024, you can now complete the HealthStart questionnaire in the Self online service. After completing the HealthStart questionnaire, you’ll receive feedback on your state of health and may be referred to health promotion services provided by the FSHS. Read more about the HealthStart questionnaire.

Remember to pay the student healthcare fee in higher education to Kela. The amount of the healthcare fee for students in higher education is adjusted annually. The 2024 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 36.80 per term. You have to pay the fee to Kela for both the spring and the autumn term. You are not billed for the fee, but are expected to pay it unprompted. The due date for the autumn term is 15 November, if you have registered as attending by 30 September. Read more from Kelas website.

Small Changes for Good Health – student well-being week 30 Sept – 4 Oct 2024. During the FSHS’s Small Changes for Good Health student well-being week (to be held 30 Sept – 4 Oct 2024) FSHS´s professionals will provide information on sexual health from different perspectives, examining facts and helping debunk myths. There will be events in Finnish on each weekday, and there’ll be one event in English and one in Swedish. See the entire week's program on the FSHS website and sign up for the webinars that interest you the most: Read more about the week.

What would you like to ask the experts about sexual health? If you wish, you can send preliminary questions to Ask an Expert webinars until 25 September 2024: Send your questions here.

The most important sex-related skill is talking. The main event of the student well-being week entitled Small Changes for Good Health is the national health promotion webinar on Thursday 3 October 2024 from 14:00 to 15:30.

Maria Nikunlaakso, service manager from sexual and relationship counselling services for young people at Väestöliitto, will focus in her speech on supporting young adults to make decisions that will have a positive impact on their sexual health and sexual well-being. After Nikunlaakso, the floor will be given to FSHS Medical Director of General and Mental Health Minna Paavonsalo. Paavonsalo will tell students about services relating to sexual health promotion and care.

Also taking the floor will be Jesse Häyhä from the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) and Linda Vallenius from the National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK). They’ll look at students’ sexual well-being from the perspective of diversity and equality.

The event is in Finnish.

Read an interview with Maria Nikunlaakso Make sure no one crosses your boundaries during sex on FSHS’s website (there is also a registration link on the page): Read the interview here.

Influenza vaccinations at FSHS will be scheduled for the end of the year. Health and welfare students in higher education, as well as students belonging to a risk group can receive their influenza vaccinations from the FSHS free of charge. It is not yet possible to book appointments for influenza vaccinations. Instructions for booking a vaccination appointment and additional information on the practical arrangements will be published on our website during October. Unfortunately, we can’t answer questions about influenza vaccinations in advance by phone. Read more

Familiarize yourself with our Self online service. Most of our remote services can be found in the Self online service. Start using Self as soon as you begin your studies! In Self you can for example reschedule or cancel your appointments, manage your personal information or complete health and service forms. You can also use Self to access remote appointments. Read more about Self.

The health examination for first-year students begins with the HealthStart questionnaire. If you have started completing your first degree at an institution of higher education, the HealthStart questionnaire will appear in the Self online service within your first academic year. After completing the HealthStart questionnaire, you’ll receive feedback on the state of your health and may be referred for health promotion services provided by the FSHS. Read more about HealthStart questionnaire.

Take a break once an hour! Even when absorbed in tasks in your studies or employment, remember to take a quick break every hour you work. An hourly break from work benefits, among other things, your musculoskeletal health, your thought processing, concentration, and memory and learning. So stop what you’re doing once an hour and move around for a while in a way that is natural for you. You’ll get more energised in body and mind. We here at FSHS share break tips under the lable Once an Hour. The tips are intended to fit a student’s lifestyle. Check out the tips from our website.

Small Changes for Good Health – student well-being week is coming soon again

FSHS´s Small Changes for Good Health – student well-being week begins on Monday 30 September 2024 and continues until Friday 4 October 2024. This year, the theme of the week is Sexuality in students’ everyday life. Students’ sexual well-being is discussed and FSHS professionals break various myths in webinars.

One webinar is even held in English:

Wednesday, 2 October 2 2024 12:00 p.m. webinar in English “Contraception and preventing pregnancy: different options, and the benefits and harms of hormonal contraception, myths related to pregnancy prevention”. Separate events in Finnish and English with the same content take place at 12 pm. Registration is required for the event.

• You can find the registration link on fshs.fi
• You can already see the entire theme week’s program on FSHS´s Finnish website.

Do you want to send questions to FSHS professionals in advance?

As a student in higher education, you can, if you wish, submit questions in advance via this Surveypal form no later than 25.9.2024. Please note that you are not supposed to send any personal health information or other sensitive information via this form or in the chat field during the webinar. Only general questions can be answered during the webinar.

We recommend following the FSHS website in the near future. We will publish an interview with sex therapist Maria Nikunlaakso in English on week 38. The theme of the interview is talking about sex with a partner: what both want and what kind of boundaries individuals don't want to cross.

FSHS will serve students in higher education institutions throughout the summer. 

FSHS’s digital and remote services will operate on all weekdays and there are several service units in our service areas that are open throughout the summer. If necessary, you will be directed from the assessment of the need for treatment to either a remote appointment or to a local appointment to another open service unit. Read more about the opening hours during the summer season.

The Moving for a better study ability model provides a summary of the benefits of physical activity. 

Moving and taking breaks from prolonged sedentary time are ways to support students’ study ability and the wellbeing of the entire study community. Small choices made by students themselves and measures taken by educational institutions can help incorporate more movement and activity into students’ lives. A new model called Moving for a better study ability is based on the model for study ability (Kunttu 2006) updated by the Finnish Student Health Service in 2022. It examines study ability and its various aspects from the point of view of physical activity. Read more about the model from our website.

Expert answers to questions about sleep. Is napping a bad idea? 

Does hitting the snooze button hurt? Does using smart devices in the evening affect your sleep at night? In response to requests by students, we’ve compiled a written summary of questions and answers from the “Reseptejä parempaan uneen” (A recipe for better rest) webinar held on the FSHS Day. Read the Q&A from our website.

Relationships and a safe community promote study ability. 

As a resource, the student community can help maintain a student’s mental health. We organized a webinar during Students’ Mental Health Week, with the focus on equality and social accessibility. Read more about the event.

Small Changes for Good Health – student well-being week is held 30 September to 4 October 2024. 

This year, the week is themed around sexual health. The national health promotion webinar is held 3 October 2024. Stay tuned, more info will be released later!

Ps. Did you know that we have an event calendar on our website? All events organised or co-organised by FSHS can be found on the website. 

Change to our call-back service: we will only call back once 

Instead of two call-back attempts, the FSHS’s treatment need assessment team will call students back only once. This way our phone service will be able to handle contacts much closer to the time specified by the student. Read more

The Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey has started – 12,000 students from all over Finland have been invited to participate

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will conduct an extensive survey for higher education students in March and April. The data obtained in this survey will be used to develop student healthcare, in particular, but also sports services and student catering. The survey questionnaire includes separate questions regarding FSHS services and how students have experienced using them. An invitation to the survey has been sent to 12,000 randomly selected students from universities and universities of applied sciences. Invitations has been emailed to students in March. Read more

Building good sleep habits starts already in the morning

The theme of this years FSHS day was sleep. You can now familiarize yourself with our new content related to the theme of sleep on our website. Read more

FSHS turns 70 this year

The anniversary year will have a visible presence in FSHS events and communications throughout the year. For example, we will publish 70 health tips on our website during this year. Read more about FSHS anniversary year.

In this newsletter

• New student, welcome to FSHS!
• Check our group activities during the spring semester 2024.
• Changes in the patient ombudsman activities.
• The National Xylitol Week is held in February.

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New student, welcome to FSHS! The FSHS provides students with support for well-being and health. FSHS services are available to you when you have registered to be present for the spring semester. Read more or watch a video on our website (fshs.fi)

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Check our group activities during the spring semester 2024. During the spring semester, the FSHS offers group activities related to health and well-being. In a group you can get support for your health and life management. Read more

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Changes in the patient ombudsman activities. In the future all, ombudsmen services will be organised by the welfare areas. During the transition period (from January 1 to March 31 2024), FSHS customers can contact the FSHS patient contact person, especially regarding pending feedback or objections. Read more

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The National Xylitol Week is held in February. We’ll spend the National Xylitol Week at FSHS 5-11 February 2024. The theme week will be visible in our digital channels and on certain campuses and service units.