Intersectoral action: local governments promoting health.

Many local governments around the world promote health through intersectoral action, but to date there has been little systematic evidence of these experiences. To bridge this gap, the World Health Organization Centre for Health Development conducted a study in 2011-2013 on intersectoral action for health (ISA) at local government level. A total of 25 cases were included in the final review.

Intersectoral action for health: the experience of a Danish municipality.

Background: The aim was to build up evidence on intersectoral action for health at local government level by identifying both challenges and facilitating factors in collaboration between sectors when developing and implementing an intersectoral health policy in Varde, Denmark.

Methods: The study was carried out in 2011 using the case-study method. Approximately 500 pages of documents from the period 2007-2011 were analysed, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine key informants.