Abstract
Public discourse increasingly highlights key concerns in elderly care, particularly regarding service quality and resource adequacy. The ageing of Finnish society, coupled with the continuous growth and diversification of older adults’ needs, presents significant challenges for elderly care service ecosystems. In this context, older adults constitute a diverse and heterogeneous group, with varying functional capacity, interest and opportunities for co-creation involvement. Notably, they typically occupy a vulnerable position.
The potential of service design has been increasingly recognised across various sectors. In the elderly care context, its application reflects a shift in the role of the customer – from passive patient to active participant and co-creator. In the field of elderly care, customer-centredness and co-creation are frequently emphasised, yet their practical implementation often falls short of these ideals. The elderly care service ecosystem is a complex and highly regulated environment, characterised by hierarchical structures. However, empathic and participatory service design can enable navigation in such complexity.
The primary aim of this study was to explore how multi-stakeholder service innovation management can be enhanced in the elderly care service ecosystem. Despite the evolving theoretical interest, a call remains for research on multi-stakeholder service design in elderly care service ecosystems, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of service design. This study contributes to addressing gaps noticed in the literature review by exploring how value co-creation in service design occurs among diverse stakeholders in elderly care service ecosystems.
The study adopted an interpretivist research philosophy and a qualitative approach, emphasising the construction of understanding of the multi-stakeholder service innovation in the elderly care service ecosystem. The methodological core was abductive reasoning, realised through a dialogue between empirical data and theoretical knowledge. The data collection method was individual in-depth interviews and focus groups. The individual in-depth interviews numbered 30 and 9 focus groups were conducted, with 67 participants in total. The data were analysed using content analysis methods.
This study introduces a process-oriented approach that seeks to balance power relations and an actor-driven approach grounded in collaboration. At the macro level, the key mechanism involves strategic governance, cultural transformation, systemic support and co-creation facilitation. This creates a systemic framework for shared values, networked co-creation and open access to resources. Meso-level actors serve as bridges both vertically and horizontally...