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Planning for Health Equity: How Municipal Strategic Documents and Project Plans Reflect Intentions Instructed by the Norwegian Public Health Act.

Abstract

The Norwegian Public Health Act (PHA) mandates municipalities to integrate a systematic, knowledge-based, cross-sectoral approach aimed at levelling the social gradient in health. This study aimed to describe and analyse how the intentions of the PHA are addressed in municipal plans and project-planning documents. A document analysis of municipal plans and project documents extracted from four municipalities in Central Norway was employed and complemented with deductive, qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate awareness of public health work as a whole-of-municipality responsibility. Systematic knowledge-based processes that make use of relevant data in planning and decision-making processes are described across municipality projects and plans. Multisectoral working groups are set up at a project level; however, opportunities for further improvements arise in respect to the anchor of these structures and systematic knowledge-based working procedures in the wider municipal context. Public health process aims (systematic knowledge-based approach, cross-sectoral governance) receive more attention than outcome aims (health equity) in both program documents and municipal plans. Only very rarely does the document hold operationalizations of how to achieve health equity. As such, effort placed on cross-administrative levels and sectors to promote structures for health equity is still needed.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

  • Monica Lillefjell
  • Siren Hope
  • Kirsti Sarheim Anthun
  • Eirin Hermansen
  • John Tore Vik
  • Erik Reidar Sund
  • Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan
  • Mari Sylte
  • Ruca Elisa Katrin Maass

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Digital / Health Research
  • Nord Trondelag Hospital Trust
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Nord University
  • Trøndelag fylkeskommune
  • University of Stavanger

Year

2023

Published in

Societies

Volume

13

Issue

3

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository