Drug prevention in a local municipality

How does a municipality prevent youths from maladjustment? And how can we help the one’s who experiences problems in their everyday lives?

Loneliness, drug problems, difficulties in the family and psychological issues threaten the health of these youths. The Norwegian Public Health Act emphasizes the role of the municipality with regard to public health. The municipality is responsible for many of the essential welfare services youths meet everyday such as; The doctor that treats, the social worker that supports and the teacher who educate. The municipality not only has a important responsibility, but also a unique opportunity to help these youths.

This PhD project was designed as a case study, which gives an in-depth investigation into Bergen municipality as a setting and a structure for drug prevention. The project was based on a health promoting approach, where we investigated both the intersectoral collaboration between the key stakeholders and how the municipality addresses the youths in a resource-based approach. To investigate the structures for prevention we conducted an interview with the responsible politician, the municipal bureaucrat and the social workers which help the youths. Last, but not least had focus groups with the youths themselves to understand their experience.