Do Norwegian muncipalities contibute to good and long lives?

In 2012, a new public health act took effect in Norway, highlighting the importance of health equity and the use of “health in all policies” (HiAP) approach to reduce social inequalities in health. The act passed the main responsibility for health promotion to the municipalities, and expected this level to act on the social determinants of health. 

The aim of this thesis was to investigate health promotion at local level in Norway, and examine how Norwegian municipalities address social inequalities in health.

 The main objectives were threefold: 1) to examine the use of public health coordinators (PHC) and the associations between having employed a PHC and municipal characteristics; 2) to examine municipal awareness of living conditions to address social inequalities in health; and 3) to examine municipal prioritization of fair distribution of socioeconomic resources among social groups, and its association with changes in HiAP- tools, such as health overviews and employment of PHCs.