hoidettavan

Hoidettavan is a Finnish term that literally means "the one to be cared for" and commonly refers to a care recipient or patient in contexts of healthcare, social services and informal caregiving. Linguistically, hoidettavan is an inflected form (genitive or object form) of the noun hoidettava, and appears in compound expressions and administrative language to denote possession or relation, for example hoidettavan oikeudet (the care recipient’s rights) or hoidettavan tila (the condition of the person cared for).

In practice, the term is used across settings where care is provided: hospitals, long-term care institutions, primary care, home care, disability services and family caregiving. It denotes the person whose needs are the focus of care planning, assessment and delivery, irrespective of age or diagnosis. Relevant considerations tied to the hoidettavan include individualized care plans, consent and decision-making capacity, privacy and dignity, safety measures and support for activities of daily living.

Hoidettavan is also a common word in Finnish legal and administrative documents concerning health and social welfare, where it helps specify responsibilities of service providers and the entitlements of those receiving care. Related Finnish terms include hoitaja (caregiver or nurse), hoito (care) and hoitosuunnitelma (care plan).