Public Health, Neighbourhood Development, and Participation
Research and Practice in four Swedish Partnership Cities av
Karin Fröding
Akademisk avhandling
Avhandling för filosofie doktorsexamen i Medicinsk vetenskap med inriktning mot hälso- och vårdvetenskap,
som enligt beslut av rektor kommer att försvaras offentligt fredagen den 20 maj 2011 kl. 10.00,
Hörsal G, Örebro universitet
Opponent: Maria Emmelin, Professor i Socialmedicin och global hälsa
Institutionen för klinisk vetenskap, Malmö Lunds universitet
Örebro universitet Hälsoakademin 701 82 ÖREBRO
© Karin Fröding, 2011
Title: Public Health, Neighbourhood Development, and Participation. Research and Practice in four Swedish Partnership Cities.
Publisher: Örebro University 2011 www.publications.oru.se
trycksaker@oru.se
Print: Intellecta Infolog, Kållered 04/2011 ISSN 1652-1153
ISBN 978-91-7668-800-7
Abstract
Karin Fröding (2011): Public Health, Neighbourhood Development, and Participation - Research and Practice in four Swedish Partnership Cities. Örebro Studies in Care Sciences 32, 100 pp.
Efforts to combat the widespread health disparities are an important challenge in public health and health promotion. A partnership between four Swedish cities was constituted to face this challenge. Within the context of that partner-ship, the overall aim of this thesis is to study public health strategies and local development work in municipalities and neighbourhoods, with a special em-phasis on residents’ participation.
Study I analyses strategic public health work, neighbourhood development, and the early implementation phase of the partnership. Interviews, participant observation, and documents were used as data sources. The study shows that a partnership for local public health work can serve as a connecting link for devel-opment and learning among stakeholders involved. Formal structures and na-tional support are crucial preconditions for success in neighbourhood development.
Study II analyses what characterizes people who participate in neighbour-hood development. A cross-sectional study with a random sample of 1,160 participants from three of the partnership cities was analysed. Citizens who had previous experience of trying to influence policy in the municipality in some way were more likely to be active in neighbourhood development than those who had no such prior experience.
Study III analyses a academic partnership and a community-based participatory research process through participant observation. It shows that a community-academic partnership requires an open, equal dialogue, an accepting attitude toward different levels of participation, and a lengthy period of time.
Study IV uses a case-study database to analyse the development processes for achieving sustainable structures in neighbourhood development in the four partner-ship cities. A partnerpartner-ship has the potential to allocate resources on a area-based level, but in this case few resources remained when the partnership ended.
Keywords: Neighbourhood development, citizen participation, municipality, partnership, community-academic partnership, CBPR, public health, health promotion.
Karin Fröding, School of Health and Medical Sciences
