Over time, Sweden’s extensive welfare system has become difficult to understand and navigate. The Welfare Guide addresses this need through a website that helps individuals find the right resources. Its social innovation lies in the fact that information about services, support, and activities from various public agencies and other organizations is gathered in one place, making it easier for people to get the help they need. The service is free, anonymous, and ad-free, and it is aimed at anyone seeking support, family members, or those who want to learn more about the welfare system. Välfärdsguiden is also a resource for people working in public services who want to help their clients or citizens in general find the right services in other agencies.
What is social innovation?
Sweden has developed a comprehensive welfare system in which each entity—such as municipalities, regions, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, and the Swedish Public Employment Service—has its own rules and procedures. It is often difficult, for both native-born and foreign-born individuals, to find the right support from the right agency and to understand what is required to receive that support.
The socially innovative aspect of this example is the creation of a digital platform—called the Welfare Guide—that is based on the individual’s needs and allows users to independently search for services, support, and activities that suit their specific situation. Välfärdsguiden enables more people to access the support they are entitled to, thereby meeting their needs and improving their life circumstances. Examples include support for job searching, financial assistance, and health-related issues.
By answering questions in the Hittaguiden, users receive recommendations for content that is relevant to them. The platform also features stories from people sharing their experiences with the welfare system, as well as a filter function to refine search results.
What is the societal challenge?
The Welfare Guide addresses the societal challenge of finding the right support within a complex welfare system. Information about available services is often scattered across multiple websites and organizations, making it difficult to get an overview.
Sweden has built a large and complex welfare system with many specialized components, each with its own specific expertise. However, people often need support from several different agencies at the same time. When individuals are left to navigate the system on their own to find the right help, it can be very difficult and time-consuming. If the applicant is from another country, the challenges are often even greater—both in terms of cultural and linguistic understanding.
The system sometimes poses challenges even for social services employees. In their work with a client or patient—or with members of the public in general—they may need information about support available from other agencies, in which case they can use the Welfare Guide.
What does the vision for social change look like?
The vision for the Welfare Guide is for everyone to be able to find the right support and make the right choices within the welfare system, thereby increasing opportunities to meet needs and improve living conditions. This may involve, for example, financial independence, good health, or housing. By offering a simple and effective path, Välfärdsguiden aims to give individuals greater control and the ability to make independent decisions about their choices.
Which stakeholders and resources have been mobilised?
The Welfare Guide is operated by the Central Östergötland Coordination Association (SCÖ) and is governed by a steering committee that includes all coordination associations that are members of the guide. SCÖ houses the Welfare Guide’s management and editorial team, which is responsible for content, maintenance, and development. Local writers at coordination associations across the country contribute material to the guide, which compiles information—including examples and services—from public sector actors and civil society in over 120 of Sweden’s municipalities and all regions.
What does the development and testing process look like?
A representative of SCÖ reports having had many encounters with people who have been frustrated and have struggled to navigate the welfare system. The emergence of the Welfare Guide also reflects the Coordination Associations’ mandate to fund initiatives that provide support and rehabilitation to individuals in need of coordinated assistance from multiple public agencies.
This is also a project that has evolved over time. Similar websites have existed in the past; for example, starting in 2018, residents of Södertälje Municipality could search for services in a platform called the Service Catalog, which has since been further developed and renamed the Welfare Guide.
The Welfare Guide is being developed in collaboration with public sector actors and civil society in over 120 of Sweden’s municipalities and in all regions. The options in the guide (the various initiatives) are collected on an ongoing basis in accordance with established guidelines and procedures developed by the Welfare Guide’s editorial team. All content is approved by each organization before publication. What the published options and organizations have in common is that they all operate within the welfare sector and offer individual-focused initiatives to promote greater inclusion, independence, self-sufficiency, well-being, and life balance. The Guide does not claim to be exhaustive and is updated continuously.
A central part of Välfärdsguiden’s approach is service design/logic as a methodology and user involvement. By applying the methods described in various initiatives and promoting different forms of knowledge dissemination and development, Välfärdsguiden’s members ensure that these functions are firmly grounded in both theory and practice.
New features are also being developed that will make it easier for all stakeholders to, for example, contribute content, monitor their operations, submit self-reports, engage in strategic planning, and simulate changes.
How have these innovative solutions been implemented and disseminated?
The Welfare Guide has been established as a long-term solution to help people navigate the welfare system. The platform is available nationwide and contains local information from public agencies and civil society organizations in over 120 municipalities and all regions. The Welfare Guide is working to recruit more member organizations and provide training for those who wish to use the guide in their work.
Currently (as of August 2025), a dialogue is underway with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Swedish Public Employment Service at the national level, as well as with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), to further strengthen the organization and thereby be able to manage information at the national, regional, and local levels throughout the country. The Welfare Guide also has a network of researchers and stakeholders from Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, and Scotland.
What value has been created?
The Welfare Guide makes it easier for people to find the right support and services within the welfare system, which, according to representatives of the Welfare Guide, can contribute to greater independence and empowerment by providing access to relevant information and guidance. Users’ needs can be met, and their life situations can be improved.
The Welfare Guide includes a section where people share their life stories and how they have moved forward in life. It is these stories and values that the Welfare Guide is ultimately about. Some examples include a connection with a personal representative in a municipality that paved the way back to employment, a counselor who was instrumental in overcoming a gambling addiction, and a person who received support to recover from burnout.
A representative of the Central Östergötland Coordination Association also believes that both staff and individuals save time and improve the quality of the choices they make. Since the Welfare Guide’s questions, answers, and structure are based on the latest research, the service itself is of high quality, while staff and the public receive some training in customer service, coaching, and guidance.
The representative of the Central Östergötland Coordination Association also believes that the growing collection of stories about how the Welfare Guide has created value and met a variety of needs offers new potential for real-time learning based on a completely different set of data compared to traditional studies.