Journal Facts

Journal
International Journal of Self-Help and Self-Care
ISSN
1091-2851 (print) 1541-4450 (electronic)
Volume
6
Issue
1
Date
1/1/2012

Article Facts

Title
The Construction of Self-Help in Norwegian Health Policy
DOI
10.2190/SH.6.1.e
Authors
  • Marianne Hedlund
  • Bodil J. Landstad
Pages
65-87
Online Date
01/23/2012

Article Links

The Construction of Self-Help in Norwegian Health Policy

Marianne Hedlund
Bodil J. Landstad

DOI: 10.2190/SH.6.1.e

Abstract

The aim of this article is to scrutinize the underlying ideology and policy arguments that legitimize self-help as a new and important health promotion strategy in public health in Norway. The analysis is explorative, using public documents as primary data. The data consist of public regulations and guidelines, reports, green and white papers, and documents published by the Norwegian national self-help resource centre between 1998 and 2011. The data were collected in a step-wise procedure using intertextuality to establish relationships between the language and other elements of the text. The findings are related to three major themes: 1) making self-help an innovative health promotion strategy; 2) approving experienced-based knowledge as part of user involvement; and 3) from unskilled to modelling skills in the field of self-help. This analysis shows that self-help as a new health promotion strategy places more responsibility on individuals to make changes to improve their personal health conditions.

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