By Eva Sahlén, Coordinator, SKR

The Swedish Association for Local and Regional Authorities ( SALAR), and the Swedish Government had an agreement between 2020-2022 that all local authorities could receive funding to use digital services to develop their care for older people SALAR ordered the means to set up a national support group and chose ten municipalities, situated from the north to south of Sweden and siffering in geographic size and population to act as a model during this three-year period.. Having different experiences of digitalisation when the project started, the model authorities worked together with the national support group in SALAR to create various kinds of support for other local authorities in Sweden.

Most local authorities began their move to digitalisation by buying tech products. They often missed some of the most important things to do – changing mindset, working methods, processes and organization and establishing why and how technology could be used in older people’s care.

In the project we produced guidelines in subjects we know that local authorities needed, prioritising 4-5 different services or tech products we know were efficient. These products were already in use in many municipalities, although seldom on a full scale.. We created basic guidelines and seminars on how to implement these services. We have also organised seminars on more specific subjects such as procurement, IT-security, digital inclusion and working methods.

Watch our film showing how some of the products we prioritised are being used.