Mental Health

Coordination of Mental Health in Adults

The department has a national responsibility for coordinating knowledge about mental health in adults. This includes strengthening the data foundation for mental distress and disorders, coordinating analyses of mental health problems in adults in Norway, identifying key risk factors, and generating knowledge about preventive measures.

The department has established a national network of research institutions and stakeholders on knowledge of mental health in adults. In addition, the department has international collaborations with among others World Mental Health Survey and Harvard.

Quality of Life

Strengthening the knowledge base on quality of life is a central focus at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and this work is anchored within the department. We are particularly concerned with the social and geographical distribution of various aspects of quality of life and how it evolves over time. Additionally, we research causative factors and mechanisms throughout the lifespan, while also developing, implementing, and evaluating initiatives aimed at promoting quality of life and preventing diseases. In this endeavor, we aim to coordinate the field of quality of life and further develop the data foundation and measurement system for quality of life in Norway.

The department is involved in several ongoing national and international projects and collaborations, including with the Promenta research center at the Department of Psychology at UiO.

Suicide

The department primarily conducts suicide research through extensive registry linkages, with a public health perspective. We are particularly focused on suicide prevention outside of specialist healthcare, social risk factors for suicide, the role of primary healthcare in suicide prevention, support for survivors of suicide, suicide among men, and suicide in the immigrant population. The research primarily aims to identify factors that can be useful in developing public health measures for suicide prevention.

The department participates in several specific projects related to suicide prevention. For example, we assist the Directorate of Education with suicide prevention in schools and the Norwegian National Rail Administration with suicide prevention related to the railway.

Mental Health Among Immigrants

The department places special emphasis on the mental health of adult immigrants. We primarily engage in registry-based research on the mental health of immigrants, but we also utilize other data sources such as health surveys and qualitative studies. The goal is to gain more knowledge about groups that are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, risk and protective factors, consequences of poor mental health, and barriers to accessing (mental) healthcare services.

Several projects within the department are funded by among others the Norwegian Research Council.