Preventive Health Research Unit

The research laboratory Active Life Lab, located at Saimaa Stadiumi in Mikkeli, is the beating heart of health promotion. At the core of Active Life Lab’s operations is impactful research, development, and innovation work; the unit conducts wellbeing research to change the world. At Active Life Lab, new health promotion services are researched and developed in collaboration with local, national, and international organisations in the field.
Active Life Lab’s RDI activities focus especially on the renewal of small and medium-sized enterprises, and on understanding and developing solutions to challenges related to the data economy, green transition, and sustainable wellbeing. At Active Life Lab, we believe that growing wellbeing challenges can be met with sustainable and impactful solutions based on high-quality research and data.

The Functionality Laboratory is a learning and research environment designed to assess, support, and promote individuals’ functional capacity across different areas of life. The laboratory offers diverse opportunities for training in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and functional capacity assessment.
The space can be used, for example, to practice improving the functional capacity of neurological patients and to conduct various tests for athletes by analyzing walking, balance, and mobility. In addition to degree education, the facilities are also utilised in continuing education as well as in research and development projects.

We focus on addressing the challenges of social and healthcare systems and are committed to finding innovative solutions to the sector’s complex issues. Our areas of interest include the organisation of health and social care, practices that promote health and wellbeing, and the advancement of evaluation and equity. We aim to understand both the structural and practical challenges of these systems and to offer sustainable solutions for their improvement.

Our goal is to develop increasingly effective and accessible health promotion methods for different age groups and life stages by utilising wearable technology and advanced data analytics. We place particular emphasis on the possibilities of personalized healthcare, where behavior changes can be tailored to individual needs based on data and the surrounding environment.

We explore innovative health solutions achieved by integrating nature into healthcare systems. Our focus is on planetary health, which aims to enhance wellbeing through nature-based interventions. Our research supports sustainable and impactful practices that align human health with the natural environment and strengthen people’s connection to nature.

In the Planetary Brain Health research group, we study the complex connections between natural environments, healthy lifestyles, and human health. Through cutting-edge research, we explore how interventions such as exposure to nature, wooden indoor environments, VR nature experiences, and healthy lifestyle habits can positively influence psychophysiological wellbeing.

Public and private wellbeing services must be both economically viable and sustainable, while also generating positive changes in people’s wellbeing in both the short and long term. Modern wellbeing services must address regional, national, and international wellbeing challenges. Service development emphasises stakeholder engagement and the need for prevention, anticipation, personalization, and participation.
We respond to these demands by researching and developing data-driven, impactful wellbeing services through co-design, testbed platforms, and ecosystem collaboration. We create the conditions for knowledge-based decision-making and the production of user-centered, engaging, and profitable wellbeing solutions.