Procurement hinders social innovations for mental health

Nature-based interventions have great potential to help people with mental health problems, but traditional procurement is a barrier.

In the research project “Tur i Skogen – entreprenörers naturbaserade och sociala innovationer” at Luleå University of Technology , a research group seeks the answers to how nature-based interventions (NBI) can be a solution to help people with mental illness. NBI is a relatively new intervention that is still in a developmental stage. As with other services, NBI services must be procured by regions and municipalities.

In the project, the researchers have now identified several problems with traditional procurement of NBI services that are social innovations. These include the lack of a clear standard for quality and cost, which makes effective procurement difficult.

– There is also a risk that those offering the services may not be able to deliver the quality required for NBI to work as therapy. Therefore, it is important that there is a clear set of requirements and a structured procurement process to ensure the quality of the services, explains Assistant Professor Ossi Pesämaa, one of the researchers in the project, and continues

– For a procurement to be fair to all bidders, there must be parameters and criteria that everyone understands in the same way.

Difficult to price

At present, there are no established criteria for the services, and according to Ossi Pesämaa, this needs to be developed by both the commissioners and the recipients – those who will benefit from NBI as therapy.

The research team has also identified that potential providers of NBI services, who often see it as a complement to their regular activities, lack experience in public procurement. At the same time, they find it difficult to figure out what to charge for.

– The difficulty of setting a price depends on several factors, including what is to be delivered, how it is to be delivered, who is to receive the service and how long therapy is required. As these are not standardized services and the participants in the therapy are different, it becomes difficult to set a uniform price in advance.

Timing and minimum price

Another challenge with procurement is the time perspective and the focus on lowest price that often drives supplier decisions.

– After 3-5 years, a new tender has to be issued, and then a new operator can come in with a lower price, which is set solely to win the tender. This means that everything that has been built up by the previous operator risks disappearing, says Ossi Pesämaa.

Given the problems and challenges of procuring nature-based interventions (NBI), he believes there is a need for long-term development programs that include a number of different development projects, i.e. different forms of NBI.

– Based on this, we build knowledge, experience and lessons learned that clients such as regions and municipalities can use in future procurements.

– Allowing different trials allows us to see what interventions work, what different price pictures can be, and what effect the treatment has on the individuals who participate. It is important that we see this as a learning process where failure is also a natural part.

Long-term thinking is the key to success

For the potential of nature-based interventions to be realized and to help people with mental health problems on a larger scale, a long-term approach is needed from all stakeholders.

– These are development programs that last at least 8-10 years. Only then can we expect the actors to have the knowledge needed to make procurement work well, says Ossi Pesämaa.

The article is published in collaboration with the research project “Tur i skogen – entreprenörers naturbaserade och sociala innovationer“ at Luleå University of Technology.

Contact: ossi.pesamaa@ltu.se