The aim to improve the citizens’ or clients’ participation is widely recognized in the Finnish legislation, national programs, municipal strategies and service models. In the municipality of Oulu, many welfare services including social services have recently been centralized into welfare centers. The study was commissioned by the adult social services of Oulu.

The purpose of the thesis was to describe how the clients of adult social services perceived their ability to function, what their experiences of adult social services were and what their participation in the client process was like. We also wanted to know how they would like the services to be developed and how they would like to participate in the development. The aim of our study was to produce client-based information that could be used to improve client participation in the client process of adult social services.

The study was qualitative, and the data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data were collected in Kontinkangas Wellness Centre in Oulu and with-in adult social services in Haukipudas. We had 30 clients as informants.

The results showed that it was essential to the client participation that the social worker or social instructor was genuinely present and listened to their clients’ situation carefully and that clients got informed about their rights and responsibilities. It was also important that the client-worker relationship led to the services and support that met a client’s needs. Many clients had various difficulties and service needs that dealt with financial survival and both mental and physical health. Most clients still preferred face-to-face meetings, even though centralizing of the services had led to longer distances. The clients found it difficult to reach the social instructor or worker and make themselves heard on the telephone. They would like to be able to participate in service development especially by giving real-time feedback and filling in online questionnaires.

The client participation can be improved by planning and doing together with the client, by informing the client about available options and their rights and responsibilities, and by using a comprehensible language. The multi-professional collaboration needs further development that the clients’ overall situation could be coordinated. Clients’ opportunity to meet face-to-face with the social instructor or worker should be ensured when developing electronic services. Clients’ participation in arranging services should be enhanced by providing them with opportunities to give feedback at the office and online. Further study might include collecting data from social workers and instructors or from clients from other municipalities and comparing them to our findings.