County and municipality coordination of alcohol and drug prevention

As a part of the implementation of the national action plans on the regional and local levels, a county coordination function for alcohol, narcotics, doping and tobacco (ANDT) prevention efforts has been developed since 2002.

The primary task has been to support the work in the municipalities and stimulate greater activity in the area of prevention. The objective is for the municipalities to integrate this work into their ordinary structures.

The goal of local coordination has been to work with alcohol and drug prevention in a more structured manner with clear policy documents and a strong political base, and for the efforts to be based on methods supported by research. To clarify and strengthen the tasks and obtain a more uniform direction, the county administrative boards were given clearer mandates to take charge of the county coordination in their Government appropriations letters since 2008. The Government finances county coordinators in all counties and the metropolitan counties are allocated funding for two full-time positions.

All counties have county coordinators and most work within the county administrative board’s organisation. The metropolitan counties have more positions and some counties divide the task over several positions or the position is shared with other regional activities. The county coordinator’s task includes providing knowledge and guidance to local prevention efforts through cooperation with the municipalities.

Since 2008, the role of the Swedish National Institute of Public Health is to provide support to the county coordinators in their work in the ANDT area. The National Institute of Public Health is also charged with disbursing funds to the county administrative boards for these positions. Support takes the form of providing knowledge about methods in the prevention field and taking charge of skills development and exchange between the county coordinators. A special position at the National Institute of Public Health has been in place since 2008 with strategic responsibility for the county coordination. The work in the counties is monitored through regular meetings with the county coordinators.

Research shows that it is successful to work in several different arenas and to direct efforts at both supply (availability) and demand, which often involves trying to influence attitudes and norms as well as social and individual factors or conditions. This means that both county and municipal coordinators must have a broad perspective and cooperate with many different actors. Many of the efforts within, for instance, parental support and schools have positive effects on public health in general, as well as on reducing the demand for drugs.