The developmental purpose of this project was to develop a national disability organization The Finnish Neuromuscular Disorders Association (FNDA) and its regional social counseling towards more co-operative and functional organization. This was pursued through classifying work processes and developing them, especially in customer counseling (carried out by phone and e-mail) and its content. The aim was at the same time, according to FNDA’s vision, to strengthen work community based professional competence identity in regional counselors work. During the monitoring period 2009 the developmental purpose was approached through direct goals and accomplishing key results.

FNDA employs total of 22 full-time employees, five of which works as regional social counselors (situation in 31.12.2009), as making out the operational field for the project manager to co-operate intensively. Developing the customer communication survey aimed to increase the effectiveness of advocating personal and human rights and to improve the response system on regional grievances. During the monitoring period the number of customer contacts totaled 925 and were made by all kind of people involved in neurological diseases. There is an overall summary about the results in this report.

In this master’s thesis is shortly described, how a social and healthcare organization operating in third sector’s field advocates personal and human rights, presented through historical back-ground, present influencing dimensions and methods. Also the role of social funding and it’s effects on third sector work is mentioned. The focus is in regional social counselors on the third sector and their perspective in work and challenges involved. The approach used in this development project is developing work analysis, which is one form and implementation of active theory. Customer communication survey instrument and operation model in regional social counseling were processed in line with operational environment structure model in order to point out the contradictions.

Project showed that by supporting professional competence and sharing mutual information can strengthen the whole work community as well as develop the customer service. Developing professional organization requires open and critical dialogue the between project manager, workers and organization management during whole process. It is the way to strengthen commitment to developing process and co-operation becomes the engine in accomplishing the tasks.