Kristofer Vernmark, licensed psychologist and business area manager at Psykologpartners, is the initiator of a digital network for psychologists.
The group on Facebook has since March grown from 267 members to over 1,100. There, psychologists have asked for help with everything from what software to use to what can replace a whiteboard.
- There have been an enormous number of people who had to start up their first video patient, and many who before the pandemic had not been able to imagine meeting a patient via video, says Kristofer Vernmark.
High increase
Region Sörmland and Region Jönköping, where most care apps are based, register the number of digital contacts abroad.
According to the figures, there have been 24 percent more visits to a psychologist up to and including August this year compared to the whole of last year.
The company Psykologpartners has also seen an increase.
They deliver internet-based treatment programs to the regions and during the period March-May this year, 35 percent more treatments were started compared to the same period the year before.
Mindler, which only offers psychological services online, has had about 70 percent more visits through September this year compared to the whole of last year.
"A little impersonal"
The psychodynamic therapy that Sara Kniest goes through was intended to be held at the reception in Malmö.
The psychologist she meets interrupted her maternity leave because she can work remotely, and in this way Sara Kniest dropped the waiting list.
So far, they have been seen via video call six times.
- The only downside is that we can not meet for real, that it becomes a bit impersonal.
I hope to see her at the reception later, she says.
Faster process
According to Kristofer Vernmark, many digital solutions were already underway, primarily through private actors.
But in the spring, many receptions had to relocate.
- This pandemic has driven a development, especially in regional care, which otherwise might have taken place more slowly, says Kristofer Vernmark.