Better strategies to promote innovation for mental health

Mental illness is an urgent health challenge. It affects the whole of society and the inequality for those affected is clear.

Vinnova wants to enable preventive, accurate and equal interventions through innovation in the broadest sense in the field of health. There are opportunities to both save money and to give more people a longer life in health, if we think in new innovative-ways.

Authority collaboration for national strategy

In 2020, the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Public Health Agency received the government's mandate to, in cooperation with 27 other authorities and relevant actors, produce basis for a national strategy for mental health and suicide prevention.

Read more on the Public Health Agency's website:

National strategy for mental health and suicide prevention — Public Health Agency

Vinnova contributes actively to the work and produced several analyzes during 2021. Here are some examples:

• Evaluation of the program Children and young people's mental health (BUPH): A collaboration between Vinnova, the Swedish Research Council and Forte for research on children's and young people's mental health 2012-2023. Implemented by the Swedish Research Council.
• Portfolio analysis of Vinnova's efforts with a focus on mental health 2016-2020. Carried out by Ramboll AB.
• Analysis of innovations in digital services for mental health, development and barriers. Carried out by Mårten Blix AB.
• Mapping and overview of research and innovation in the field of mental health and well-being. Carried out by Leiden Universitet.

Please find the analyses below:

Basis for future strategy on mental health and suicide prevention | Vinnova

National programme for research

In the Government’s research and innovation bill 2020, Forte was commissioned to establish a ten-year national research programme on mental health and Suicide prevention. Vinnova, Formas and VR are contributing to this work througha steering group that Forte is coordinating.

Read more about this on Forte's website:

National programme for research on mental health - Forte

Current project

In 2022, Vinnova funded projects through a call Innovations for increased mental health and suicide prevention to give actors the opportunity to develop solutions, methods and prototypes to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders and alleviate the consequences. With the investment, Vinnova wants to enable preventive, accurate and equal efforts through innovation in the broadest sense.

Vinnova financed these projects projects:

• Collective Impact for mental health in Husby | Vinnova
• Framvik - Virtual reality (VR) - Innovation for increased mental health. | Vinnova