75International Journal of Circumpolar Health 62:1 2003 ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Background.The problems of children and adolescents have increased in number and severity during the last years. Objective. The purpose of this study was to elicit the views of special school teachers in the Oulu Province in Finland concerning their pupils’ problems and the need, use and adequacy of relevant psychiatric services. Methods. The information was collected from the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District in 1998 in Finland and responses were obtained from the 37 (97.4 %) special schools. The data were analysed using the content analysis method. Results. Special-needs pupils had various behavioural and emotional prob-lems that made it difficult for them to learn and for the teachers to teach. According to the teachers, the major obstacles in the process of helping special-needs pupils were the delayed admission for treatment and the lack of information necessary for the pupils ’ school work and goal-ori-ented aftercare, although there were also favourable experiences of func-tional co-operation and availability of useful information. Some schools lacked a reliable network for helping pupils and supporting teachers. The Finnish legislation on basic education obliges the providers of education to provide rehabilitation in connection with special education and to ar-range relevant development, counselling and support services. Conclusion. The rehabilitation of special-need pupils and the collabo-ration between school and mental health authorities is not optimally realised in spite of the legislation