Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers in Sweden

How is addiction care organized in Sweden?

Addiction care in Sweden is shared between two public bodies: the regions, which run health care including addiction clinics, and the municipalities, whose social services offer support for alcohol and drug problems. A person can contact either one, and both belong to the ordinary public system rather than to a separate service.

In Stockholm County, the regional addiction service accepts self-referral by phone or through 1177, Sweden’s national health care information and e-service. Other regions set their own routes, so a call to the local clinic or to social services is the simplest way to learn how the process works in a given area.

Who regulates addiction services in Sweden?

The Health and Social Care Inspectorate, known as IVO, is the national body that issues permits for addiction services run under Sweden’s Social Services Act. That covers residential care homes, called HVB homes, supported housing and outpatient services. IVO also issues permits for some health care and supervises the operations on its register.

Health care providers must notify IVO for its care provider register at least a month before they open. That notification places the operation under IVO supervision under the Patient Safety Act; it is a registration, not a permit, and it says nothing about quality on its own.

Can someone be treated against their will in Sweden?

Yes, in certain cases. Sweden allows compulsory care for substance misuse under the Act on Care of Persons with Substance Misuse in Certain Cases, known as LVM. Young people fall under a separate law, LVU, which sets special rules for the care of the young, so the two age groups are handled under different legislation.

Court-ordered treatment and court referrals are each listed at a few of the rehabs in Sweden.

How private are treatment records in Sweden?

Treatment records in Sweden are protected by the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act. Chapter 25 of the act sets the secrecy rules for health care records, and chapter 26 does the same for social services records, so notes held by a regional clinic and by a municipal social services office are both covered.

The same two chapters apply in every region and municipality, whichever public route into care a person takes.

Is medication-assisted treatment available in Sweden?

Medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence, called LARO in Swedish, is available in Sweden and regulated by Socialstyrelsen, the National Board of Health and Welfare, which sets national rules for health and social care. Regional addiction care provides it, and medication-assisted treatment is listed at a few of the rehabs in Sweden.

Naloxone nasal spray, which can reverse an opioid overdose, is sold at Swedish pharmacies without a prescription. Opioids are among the substances treated at some of the country’s rehabs, and supervised opioid tapering appears at a few.

What does rehab in Sweden cost?

Public addiction care in Sweden follows national fee ceilings: outpatient fees stop at 1,450 kronor in any 12-month period, prescription medicines at 3,800 kronor, and an inpatient stay costs at most 130 kronor a day. Private care sits outside those rules, and private residential rehab has an estimated typical range of €8,900 to €23,700 a month.

Self-pay is listed at a few of the rehabs in Sweden, and public health cover is accepted at most.

Estimated monthly ranges by level of care in Sweden

Four levels of care listed in Sweden have an estimated typical monthly range: medical detox, residential rehab, intensive outpatient care and standard outpatient care. Standard outpatient care is the lowest, from about €1,100 a month, and residential rehab the highest, at up to €23,700. The table sets the four ranges side by side.

Room type, the length of a stay and the services included all move the final figure within each range.

What does the high-cost protection cover in Sweden?

Sweden’s high-cost protection, högkostnadsskydd, limits what a person pays for public outpatient care to 1,450 kronor in a 12-month period. Prescription medicines have their own ceiling of 3,800 kronor, and the daily fee for a public inpatient stay may be at most 130 kronor under the national rules.

These ceilings apply inside the public system only. Private rehab is priced on its own terms, so it is worth asking in writing what a stay includes before admission.

Which levels of care are listed in Sweden?

Outpatient treatment is the most common level of care in Sweden, listed at most of the country’s rehabs. Medical detox and hospital-based addiction care each appear at some, and residential rehab and intensive outpatient care at a few, so treatment while living at home is the usual pattern.

Walk-in access and evening sessions are listed at some of the rehabs in Sweden, and sober living and online treatment at a few.

Does rehab in Sweden treat mental health alongside addiction?

Mental health treatment is listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Sweden, and care for a mental health condition alongside addiction at some. Crisis intervention and psychiatric medication management also appear at some of the country’s rehabs, so both needs can be raised at the first appointment.

Programs for women and for men are each listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Sweden, and programs for teens, for pregnant women and trauma-informed care at a few.

Coming to Sweden for treatment

Someone coming to Sweden for rehab needs to plan around two sets of rules: the Schengen limit of 90 days in any 180-day period for visitors from outside the EU, and Swedish limits on bringing prescribed medicines into the country. Both depend on where the person lives, not only on the length of the stay.

Rehab is also listed elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium.

Can visitors stay in Sweden for rehab?

Sweden is in the Schengen area, so visitors from outside the EU can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, on a short-stay visa if their nationality needs one. A stay longer than 90 days falls under Swedish national procedures, and the EU visa rules do not describe a separate medical visa category.

A course of treatment that may run past 90 days is worth discussing with the provider before travel. Medicines have their own rules: visitors who live in another Schengen country may bring narcotic-classified medicine for up to 30 days of their stay, and some need a Schengen certificate, which covers up to 30 days of one medicine.

Visitors living outside Schengen may bring up to 90 days’ supply of schedule IV and V medicines. For anything else, limits are set by Läkemedelsverket, the Swedish Medical Products Agency, the national medicines regulator, so a prescriber can confirm the position before departure.

Which helpline answers about alcohol in Sweden?

Alkoholhjälpen is Sweden’s free and anonymous national alcohol helpline, on 020-84 44 48. It answers Monday to Thursday from 11:00 to 19:00 and Friday from 11:00 to 16:00, and it runs with support from Folkhälsomyndigheten, the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the national agency responsible for public health.

For an emergency anywhere in Sweden, the number to call is 112. Alcoholics Anonymous also holds meetings across the country, and its Swedish branch runs an online meeting finder and a phone line on 08-720 38 42. According to that branch, many meetings are open to anyone, though it does not say whether any run in English.

More rehab listings across the continent are on the Europe page, with further countries including Croatia, Greece, France and the United Kingdom.