EETOS – Ethics in Rehabilitation: Developing Everyday Practices and AI Competence

Strengthening ethical competence and responsible AI use

Project Duration

1.9.2026 – 30.4.2029

Source of Funding

European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2027 programme.

Funding authority: Economic Development Centre of Central Finland.

Total Funding

377,171 €

Physiotherapists and occupational therapists increasingly face complex ethical situations related to client diversity, the use of technology and the fairness of decision-making. The EETOS project strengthens the ethical competence of rehabilitation professionals and creates models that integrate ethical reflection into everyday rehabilitation practice. The project also improves professionals’ competence in artificial intelligence and explores the potential of AI as a tool for developing ethical competence. The EETOS agent is developed and piloted to help professionals structure ethical situations and consider solutions in light of ethical principles and relevant legislation.

In the EETOS project, we strengthen the ethical competence of physiotherapists and occupational therapists and develop models that integrate ethical reflection into everyday rehabilitation practice. The project combines training in ethical decision-making, reflective methods and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. We develop and pilot the EETOS agent, an AI-assisted learning environment in which professionals can practise ethical decision-making in simulated situations, taking into account ethical principles and relevant legislation.

We bring ethical discussion into everyday rehabilitation

The project aims to strengthen the ethical competence of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and future professionals entering the field, and to develop AI-assisted training solutions that support ethically sustainable and human-centred practice, particularly in the rehabilitation of vulnerable client groups. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists face ethical challenges every week, related for example to client self-determination, fairness and scarce resources. The professions’ codes of ethics were renewed in 2024, but there are not yet effective ways to put them into everyday practice. At the same time, the use of AI in social and health care is growing, yet physiotherapy and occupational therapy still lack guidelines and training solutions for its ethical use.

We develop AI-assisted training solutions to support ethically sustainable operations

At the start of the project, we use a survey and focus group interviews to map professionals’ experiences of ethically challenging situations and the use of AI. Based on the results, we develop the first versions of the training material and the EETOS agent. The materials are then developed further together with professionals in workshops that use methods such as the ethics café and simulations. Finally, we compile the outputs on an online platform, pilot them in workshops and webinars, and finalise the training package and the proposed operating model based on feedback and evaluation. The project’s target organisations are the Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Terveystalo Kuntoutuspalvelut, Terapia Sateenkaari and Varsinais-Suomen Muistiyhdistys.

The project strengthens professionals’ ethical and AI competence, the ethical climate of work communities and the quality of client care. The training materials and the proposed operating model are published openly and remain available after the project ends. The example implementation of the EETOS agent is used only for testing within the project, but its technical description and implementation guide (blueprint) and open source code are published so that rehabilitation units can build tools suited to their own needs. We disseminate the results in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Physiotherapists and the Finnish Association of Occupational Therapists. The project is co-funded by the European Union.