Background
The Co-occurring Disorders Inquiry places high demands on municipalities and regions to create shared structures for addiction care, psychiatry and social support. In Jämtland Härjedalen, the investigators were tasked with mapping the current situation, identifying gaps and formulating development proposals ahead of future implementation.
The work needed to include many actors across a large geographical area and be based on the experiences of professionals and service users.
The process was therefore built up in several steps: mapping, gap analysis, interviews, three targeted workshops and a final county-wide workshop: Beroendedagen (the Addiction Day).
Mona Nilsson, employed as a business developer at Östersund Municipality and seconded 50% to the Association of Local Authorities in Jämtland Härjedalen as an investigator in the county’s work on the Co-occurring Disorders Inquiry, says:
We could never have collected so much material in such a short time without Vocean… We would have been at it until next autumn.
Mona NilssonThe challenge
The assignment was extensive and consisted of several steps:
Map the current situation and gaps across the whole county Involve professionals, service users, managers and politicians in several steps Handle and analyse large amounts of information quickly Create broad participation without travelling around a large county Deliver a final report on time and with clear anchoring
The solution: A comprehensive co-creation process with Vocean
The work was built up in several phases, with Vocean used as the digital platform for data collection, analysis, co-creation and prioritisation:
Digital mapping across several parts of the whole county to understand the current situation in addiction care, psychiatry and social support Gap analysis based on the mapping, statistics and reference interviews to identify shortcomings and development needs Three workshops with governance/management, municipalities and region–municipality to explore and co-create around the identified gaps Beroendedagen with almost 300 participants and more than 1,000 proposals submitted Vocean’s AI was used to summarise, prioritise and create reports in real time
Lena Danielsson, employed as a business developer at Östersund Municipality and seconded 50% to the Association of Local Authorities in Jämtland Härjedalen as an investigator, sharing the main responsibility for the county’s work on the Co-occurring Disorders Inquiry, says:
This is not a paper product. People have actually had their say, and you can really see that their voices are part of the final report.
Lena DanielssonResults and impact
The process ended with a county-wide workshop day, Beroendedagen. Almost 300 people took part: politicians, managers, employees and partner organisations.
During Beroendedagen, 1,077 proposals were collected and more than 400 prioritisation votes were cast in real time as the participants saw their ideas highlighted on the screen. Lena Danielsson says:
When we showed how many answers had come in, the audience started applauding each other… They really felt part of the process.
Lena DanielssonMore than 2,000 ideas were generated during the whole process. The final report was completed within the time frame, something that could otherwise have taken much longer. Exceptional engagement from employees, managers and politicians. Confirmed both in the workshops and in the final report. High participation and legitimacy: the participants could see directly how their contributions affected the result. The process produced clearly prioritised development areas that now form the basis for the county’s continued work.
Key insights
Vocean made county-wide participation possible in a complex reform preparation. The AI support saved months of analysis and made large amounts of data manageable. The participants experienced ownership, engagement and transparency in the work. The final report became a robust, jointly built basis for upcoming decisions.
