Care and support for harmful use and addiction face a double challenge. The needs are great, while resources are limited and access to interventions varies between different parts of the country. The National Board of Health in Sweden and Welfare’s national evaluation shows that there are clear areas for improvement: more people need to be assessed with standardized instruments, follow-up needs to be strengthened, suicide prevention work needs to be developed and care needs to become more equal.
This is not just a question of organization. It is a question of people’s lives, relationships, work, health and future.
Care that is often too sparse between appointments
Addiction treatment is based on relationships, trust and professional support. But a lot happens between treatment visits. It is in everyday life that stress, loneliness, cravings, relapse signals and motivation change. It can be difficult for the therapist to capture changes over time if the contact is based on occasional meetings and the patient’s memory of what the week has been like.
Here, digital care support can fulfill an important function. Not as a replacement for the therapist, but as enhanced support between meetings.
“A digital care support like Previct Care can provide structure to the treatment, make it possible to follow the patient’s development more closely and create a better basis for conversations, follow-up and decisions. When the patient can report how they are feeling, follow their care plan and carry out steps in their everyday life, the therapist gets a more continuous picture of the situation. This makes it easier to detect risks early and provide the right support at the right time.”
Opportunity for healthcare: better prioritization and more targeted interventions
For healthcare, digital support can help reduce the gap between needs and available resources. Through structured digital follow-up, therapists can more quickly identify which patients need extra contact, which are following their plan, and where interventions need to be adjusted.
It can create several concrete values:
- more continuity between physical or digital treatment sessions
- better decision-making basis for therapists
- possibility of earlier detection of deterioration or risk of relapse
- more personalized treatment
- clearer monitoring of results over time
This is close to what the National Board of Health and Welfare is asking for: more structured assessment, better follow-up and more equal access to support.
Economic benefit: the right effort earlier
Harmful use and addiction often lead to costs far beyond the addiction treatment itself. This can include emergency care, sick leave, social services, unemployment, crime, family problems and co-morbidities. Any delayed or missed intervention therefore risks being costly, both in human and financial terms.
Digital healthcare support can contribute to a more preventive and proactive healthcare model. When signs of relapse or worsening well-being are detected earlier, healthcare can act before the situation escalates. This can reduce the need for more resource-intensive interventions later on.
Den ekonomiska poängen är inte att digital teknik automatiskt gör vården billigare. Den verkliga möjligheten ligger i att använda resurserna mer träffsäkert: behandlartid där den behövs mest, tätare stöd till personer i riskperioder och bättre uppföljning av vilka insatser som faktiskt fungerar.
Social benefit: when more people receive timely support
Addiction doesn’t just affect the individual. It affects families, workplaces, children, loved ones and society at large. When support works better, the effects can spread far beyond the care meeting. Digital care support can make addiction care more accessible, more continuous and less dependent on geographical conditions. This is especially important in a country where access to support varies between municipalities and regions.
For society, this could mean:
- greater opportunity to reach people earlier
- more equal access to support
- better support for relatives and close friends
- reduced risk of problems getting worse before help is provided
- better basis for monitoring quality and developing healthcare
Digitalization does not solve all the challenges of addiction care. But used correctly, it can contribute to a more cohesive care chain.
Individual level: support when needed most
För personen i behandling kan digitalt stöd innebära trygghet, struktur och delaktighet. Många som lever med skadligt bruk eller beroende behöver stöd just i stunden: när suget kommer, när motivationen sviktar, när rutiner faller eller när skam gör det svårt att be om hjälp.
With digital support on your mobile phone, treatment can become more present in your everyday life. The patient can follow their plan, reflect on how they are feeling, receive reminders and feel that care is closer than the next booked visit.
It can also change the conversation between patient and therapist. Instead of just asking “how did it go?” you can look at patterns, events and signals together. This makes the treatment more concrete and can strengthen the patient’s own understanding of what affects recovery.
Technology must be introduced responsibly
Digital healthcare support needs to be implemented correctly. It requires clear working methods, follow-up, training, information security and an understanding that digital tools must never create exclusion. Some patients need other ways of contact. Some need more support to use digital solutions. When digital supports are used in care and treatment, they must also be quality assured, safe and adapted to current regulations, including requirements relating to medical devices when applicable.
From digitalization to real benefit
The reports show that healthcare needs more equality, better follow-up and more structured working methods. Digital healthcare support such as Previct Care can be part of the answer – not by replacing the profession, but by strengthening it. For healthcare, it is about better decision-making and more accurate interventions. For society, it is about reducing the consequences of addiction and reaching more people in time. For the individual, it is about security, participation and support in everyday life.
“That’s where digital healthcare can make a real difference: when technology is not at the center, but the person is.”
LINKS (swedish):
Socialstyrelsen
Socialstyrelsen