Sammendrag
: Building heavily on the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, Norway implemented the
Public Health Act in 2012 to reduce social inequalities in health. Local public health coordinators
(PHCs) at municipal levels were seen as tools to provide local intersectoral public health work. In this
study, we examine factors related to intersectoral agency and if intersectoral work is understood as
relevant to securing social justice in local policy outcomes. A national web-based survey in 2019 of all
Norwegian PHCs (n = 428) was conducted with a response rate of 60%. Data were analysed through
multiple linear regression, hierarchical regression modelling and structural equation modelling.
Neither factors relating to community contexts nor individual characteristics were associated with
intersectoral agency. Organisational factors, especially position size, being organised at the top level
and having a job description, were significantly associated with perceptions of intersectoral agency.
PHCs seeing themselves as intersectoral agents also found themselves able to affect annual budgets
and policy outcomes. We conclude that municipal PHC positions can be important HiAP tools in
local public health policies. However, organisational factors affect how PHCs perceive their influence
and role in the municipal organisation and thereby their possibilities to influence local policymaking
through intersectoral agency
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