Kommunene på Agder og opptrappingsplanen på rusfeltet : den sektoriserte stat møter kommunene

Abstract

During the last 25 years there have been several efforts to strengthen the services to patients with mental health problems and substance use disorders. The new plan (opptrappingsplanen for rusfeltet) was launched in 2016 and will be completed in 2020. Again, as in previous efforts, it is the municipal health services that are going to do the job. This study examined the size of staff in these services in relation to population, and the proportion of employees in these services in relation to the total number of employees in the municipality. According to the results of this study, it is the smallest municipalities that have the highest number of employees working in the mental health and substance abuse services in relation to the population. However, the study also showed the largest municipalities have the highest percentage of employees in these services in relation to the total number of staff in the municipality. Furthermore, the study examined whether the services to patients with mental health problems and substance use disorders were mentioned in the municipality's financial plans and budgets on two variables i.e. management and sensitivity to governmental expectations as expressed in the plan. The study showed that the largest municipalities have the highest scores on these variables. The study concludes that the size of staff in relation to population does not give a realistic picture of how strongly the municipality prioritizes this field. The article proposes to use the staff percentage of employees in these services in relation to the total number of staff in this field as a better measure of the municipality priorities in this field. Keywords: mental health problems, substance use disorders, municipalities, health policy