AUTHOR=Akre Ann-Grete Dybvik , Granrud Marie Dahlen 

TITLE=Growing pains: exploring residents’ mental health in a rapidly growing municipality—a qualitative study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1659023

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1659023

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=BackgroundBelonging to a community provides opportunities for engagement, social connectedness, and participation, which are important for mental health. Norwegian municipalities are responsible for safeguarding the mental health of their residents, but there are significant differences in the types of services they provide. Some municipalities are experiencing rapid growth, which may impact residents’ mental health and the accessibility of tailored mental health services. The aim of this study is to explore how a municipality’s rapid growth has affected residents’ mental health from both professionals’ and users’ perspectives.MethodsFocus group interviews were carried out in two groups with 14 participants from different professions and user organizations from one rapidly growing municipality. The focus group interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe analysis resulted in three categories: Preparedness for complex life challenges, Importance of having a social network, and Changed threshold for access to health services.ConclusionHealth services are not sufficiently prepared to keep up with the complexity of challenges people are facing. No one is in charge, it is difficult to navigate the available services, and collaboration is not systematized. The threshold for getting mental health services has become higher.