How do you create safe collaboration around a person when multiple actors are involved – social services, addiction care, psychiatry and sometimes even employers?
And how can support work even when life is complex, with children, co-morbidities and the pressure to prove one’s sobriety?
This fictional story about Sara is designed to illustrate a reality that someone may recognize. It shows how Previct Care can function as a common tool for follow-up, structure and early intervention – where collaboration becomes possible even remotely.
The story is not based on an individual person, but reflects situations that often arise in addiction care and social work. Our goal is to show how digital support can contribute to safety for the individual, for the children and for the entire team around them.
When your whole life needs to hang together – Sara’s story
Sara is 44 years old and a single mother of two children. For several years she has struggled with alcohol addiction, depression and a gambling addiction that has slowly taken over more than she dared to admit. After a relapse, social services are involved. The message is clear: in order for the children to stay at home, she must show that she is sober and following her treatment plan.
At the same time, Sara works in area of healthcare. The job is more than an income – it gives her structure, meaning and a feeling of still being needed. The employer wants to give her a chance, but needs reassurance that she will stay sober. Everyone wants to help, but everyone only sees their part of Sara’s life.
Around her are social services, addiction care, psychiatry, gambling treatment, outpatient care and an employer with responsibility for the safety of other people. For Sara, it feels like she constantly has to change roles: mother, patient, employee – while trying to survive day by day. She describes it herself as standing in the middle of chaos where she is expected to hold everything together on her own.
This is where Previct Care comes in as a common hub. With one and the same structure, Sara gets daily check-ins about her well-being and risk, the opportunity to conduct alcohol tests remotely, and quick contact with a therapist when the cravings get strong. The most important thing for her is not the technology itself, but that she no longer just needs to say she is doing the right thing. She can show it.
Through the care portal, all stakeholders can follow Sara’s progress and coordinate their efforts without Sara having to be the intermediary. The employer is also included, through a clear agreement where Sara agrees to share simple status notifications – never medical details, just confirmation that the plan is being followed. For the first time, she experiences that the job is not a court, but a support.
After a few months, a clear change is noticeable, Sara’s sober periods are getting longer. Social services see greater stability around the children. Care works more coordinated and the gambling problem is caught early. The employer dares to let her continue working. And perhaps most importantly of all – Sara is starting to regain her identity.
Previct Care becomes a way to detect risk before everything collapses. Early signals reduce the risk of relapse, emergency care interventions and, in the long run, one of the most costly and painful things there is: the placement of children. When follow-up can be done remotely, the need for travel, missed appointments and unnecessary administration is also reduced. Collaboration becomes more efficient, both humanly and financially.
In Sara’s case, the win is not just about numbers, although they are significant. It’s about children being able to grow up in their home, about a person being able to keep their job, and about healthcare and social services being able to work preventively instead of acutely.
Previct Care did not replace demands with more demands. It created the conditions for all of life to be interconnected.
Summary
Sara didn’t need more demands. She needed a system that made it possible to stick together:
- sobriety
- parenthood
- treatment of comorbidity (mental illness + gambling)
- socialtjänsten
- arbetsgivarens behov av säkerhet
- continuity in everyday life
Previct Care blev verktyget som gjorde samverkan möjlig.
How can Previct Care contribute to:
✅ fewer relapses
✅ fewer emergency costs
✅ reduced risk of LVU placement
✅ better collaboration
✅ retained work
✅ safer children and future