Huvitus Rehabilitation and Development Center
Huvitus (** see footnote) Rehabilitation and Development Center
The Center was founded in 1994 and is located in southwestern Finland in the municipality of Yläne, 65 km north of Turku. In keeping with the Foundation’s objectives for child welfare and child protection, we at Huvitus concentrate on children and young people (aged 0-18) with chronic illnesses, injuries or psychosocial and developmental disorders.
We provide the following kinds of rehabilitation:
- group family rehabilitation,
- individual rehabilitation, and
- courses assisting families to cope in everyday life.
We also offer training and counseling to professionals in social welfare, health and education and develop rehabilitation methods and new work practices. Our workers regularly attend professional conferences and present our program and the results we have achieved.
Our approach and aim
We work in multi-disciplinary teams combining a wide range of knowledge on rehabilitation, education, psychology, social work, family therapy and in particular therapeutic support for positive interaction between children and their parents. Our aim is to empower parents to provide their children with security and happiness in everyday life and with the means needed for participation in society on an equal footing.
Our methods
During the intensive family rehabilitation program at Huvitus (usually in five-day periods 4 to 5 times a year), the emphasis is on the resources and strengths of children and their parents and on positive and effective interaction between them.
The following are some of the methods used in rehabilitation at Huvitus:
- a solution-orientation and empowerment
- experiential and functional methods (outdoor adventure, handicrafts, arts, music and sports)
- relevant everyday activities
- practice in learning skills (for example meta-cognitive skills)
- Theraplay®
- VIG (Video Interaction Guidance)
- supportive discussions
- family work
- networking with day-care, schools and social services
Our work in 2007
In 2007, Huvitus provided rehabilitation and courses for coping in everyday life to 600 families (including 1200 children), amounting to 15,000 days at the Center. Families were also assisted with open rehabilitation and support services.
Our clients
We have time to listen to our clients; we want to discuss what is important to them in depth and to provide support along the road to positive change. Children are important clients for us. We encourage them to tell us about themselves and their thoughts and feelings.
The following are comments made by clients after a stay at Huvitus:
- This place called Huvitus is really cool, out in the woods – on a lakeshore… (young person)
- We talked a lot about upbringing and children – about caring and coping… (parent)
- I’m going to tell my friends that we went on an adventure outing in the woods and baked gingerbread cookies. There are lots and lots of apple trees … (child)
** The Family Rehabilitation and Development Center derives its Finnish name (Huvitus) from the manor and orchard established there in the 19th century. There is an ‘old manor’ in Yläne that dates back to the middle ages and was owned at different times by a number of Finland’s noble families. At the beginning of the 19th century half of this estate was sold and a ‘new manor’ was established. Clearing the land in the 1840s for the large orchard that was to be part of the new manor was apparently so unpleasant a task that the tenant farmers working there referred to it as ‘Siberia’. When the job was done, the owner of the manor declared that it would no longer be called Siberia, but Huvitus, which in Finnish means an entertaining or amusing occupation or pastime. At least that’s how the story goes. In any case, the name stuck, the new manor was a success and a well-known apple, also called Huvitus, was developed there. Some of the orchard still exists, although the manor itself has long been used for other purposes, the most recent of which is the Family Rehabilitation and Development Center, which began its work in 1994.
Contact Information
Huvitus Rehabilitation and Development Center
Valasrannantie 465
21900 YLÄNE
Finland
tel: +358 2 2777 444
huvitus@mll.fi
Liisa Heino, head of development
tel. +358 40 565 3745
liisa.heino@mll.fi