visitointi

Visitointi is a Finnish noun that denotes the act or process of visiting, i.e., visitation. It is used to describe when someone visits a person or a place, and it can refer to both informal visits and more formal, scheduled visits conducted within organizations or institutions. In everyday language, the word vierailu is more common for casual visits, whereas visitointi tends to appear in official texts, guidelines, or policy documents.

The term is formed from the verb vierailla (to visit) with the -ointi suffix, a productive Finnish pattern for turning verbs into nouns that express processes or actions. Because of this construction, visitointi shares its core meaning with other action-nouns such as tutkiminen (investigation) or suunnittelu (design), but its usage is often more specialized or formal.

In practice, visitointi can describe activities such as routine rounds and patient visits in healthcare, client or home visits in social services, or field and campus visits in research and education. It may also appear in administrative or regulatory contexts where visits are part of a protocol, inspection, or monitoring program. Depending on the context, the term may be translated as “visitation” in English.

See also: vierailu, vierailla, visitation.