Folkehelsekoordinator som endringsagent : Hva preger kommunale folkehelsekoordinatorers kontakt med toppledelse, øvrig administrasjon og sivilsamfunn, og hvilke forhold påvirker dette kontaktmønsteret?

Abstract

Background: The recommended procedure for achieving health promotion in Norwegian municipalities is a "Healt-in-All-Policies" approach. This is because the factors that affect the population's health also include areas outside the health sector. The municipalities are recommended to employ a public health coordinator to bring together the various parties in cross-sectoral public health work. Collaborative processes with several stakeholders in different sectors depend on a unifying key person to achieve acceptable cross-sectoral involvement, understanding and continuity. This is according to the "boundary spanner" theory and Kingdon's theory of the "policy entrepreneur". The aim of this study is to investigate the public health coordinators' contact pattern, and factors of importance to increase their cross-sectoral contact. Conclusion: The fact that public health coordinators ́ contact with the municipality's top management and civil society is low may indicate a lack of exchange of knowledge with keypersons and decision-makers, as well as a small degree of inclusion of the civil society in the systematic public health work. The public health coordinators cannot run their mission for public health without clear guidelines and time at hand. Keywords: Health-in-all-policies, wicked problems, municipal public health work, public health coordinator, boundary spanners, policy entrepreneur