Integrating Health Impact Assessment with the Policy Process

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Learning Points ◽  
Country Specific

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a policy-support instrument and approach that seeks to assess the health impacts of projects, programmes and policies on population health. The ultimate goal of HIA is to systematically predict health impacts and subsequently inform the intersectoral decision- and policy-making processes of these impacts. This resource examines how the process of integrating HIA with policy can take place. Introductory chapters outline the HIA process and provide a conceptual foundation for the book. Then, drawing from experiences of HIA practice and research globally, country-specific experiences are presented to examine HIA's relationship with the policy process. Throughout, checklists and learning points are provided to assist in the understanding of the concepts and examples discussed.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment and City Council Policy: Identifying Opportunities to Address Local Social Determinants of Health & Place-Health Relationships, 10 Years Later

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Petteway ◽  
Shannon Cosgrove
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
City Council ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Baltimore City ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Related

Background: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) can be used to assess any type of policy/program related to social determinants (SDH).  However, local public health departments (LHDs) have been slow to adopt formal use of HIA in efforts to address local SDH, even with growing evidence linking SDH and place-health relationships. Ten years ago we completed a review of Baltimore City Council policies to advance this conversation within the LHD. Our goal here is to revisit this review and, again, outline a process by which LHDs can: a) monitor local policies in regard to SDH and b) identify opportunities for potential HIA use. Methods:  We reviewed all policies introduced into Baltimore City Council in calendar years 2008 and 2009. We reviewed each policy to identify those with potential health impacts. We then categorized these policies as: a) “explicitly health-related” or b) “related to SDH.” We then tabulated the number and sub-types of these policies that were referred for LHD review. Results: We identified and reviewed 597 total policies. 89 policies (15%) were identified as “explicitly health-related,” 34 (38%) of which were referred for LHD review. 208 policies (35%) were identified as “related to SDH,” 13 (6%) of which were reviewed. Overall, 297 (50%) policies were identified as having potential health impacts, 47 (16%) of which were reviewed. Conclusion: This work represents a potentially replicable process to identify HIA opportunities, and potential launch point for health-in-all-policies efforts. In Baltimore, it facilitated dialogue with Baltimore City officials and led to the LHD’s first HIA grant.

Assessing health impacts

2020 ◽  
pp. 54-65
Author(s):  
Margaret Douglas ◽  
Ben Cave
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health Impacts

By reading this chapter, you will become familiar with: the definition and purpose of health impact assessment (HIA); concepts and values that underpin?HIA; the stages of an HIA process; methods used in?HIA; experiences of?HIA.

scholarly journals The Public Health Implications of Brexit in Wales: A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Green
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health And Social Care

Abstract On March 29th 2019, the United Kingdom was due to exit the European Union (EU) in a process known informally as ‘Brexit’. The 2 years before this time (and ongoing) experienced a period of unprecedented political and social upheaval with many unknowns and much uncertainty attached to the outcomes and future impact of withdrawal and transitionary period. Public Health Wales commissioned the Wales Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Support Unit to carry out a HIA of Brexit in Wales to assess the potential impact, extent and nature of ‘Brexit’ on health and wellbeing in Wales which would to inform its planning, future work and support other bodies decision-making, planning and policymaking. A comprehensive HIA was conducted over a 6 month period in 2018/19, steered by a Strategic Advisory Group. Methods included; a literature review; stakeholder workshop; interviews with policy leads, a community health profile, and report with evidence synthesis. Trade agreements, economic impacts, changing relationships with EU agencies, uncertainty and loss of regulatory alignment were key pathways for health impacts to occur. Potential impacts included; food standards/safety; environmental regulations; working conditions; and health and social care. Many impacts will affect the whole population. Vulnerable populations included; children/young people; those at risk of unemployment;Welsh areas receiving significant EU funding. Potential indirect impacts were identified on mental well-being. Brexit has the potential to impact significantly on the determinants of health.The HIA has informed and influenced cross-sector planning and policy in response to the short/long-term implications of Brexit to ensure that health and inequalities are considered at every juncture.This unique work demonstrates continued leadership by Wales in the field of impact assessment and ‘health in policies’ and has been positively received. It has transferable learnings for many nation states and health policy leads. Key messages Brexit is a major policy change with major health impacts. HIA is an informative and influencing process to support planning and future policy making.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of a Fluvial Environment Recovery Project in a Medium-Sized Spanish Town

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1484
Author(s):  
Cristina Casajuana Kögel ◽  
Tània Rodríguez Peña ◽  
Isabel Sánchez ◽  
Montserrat Tobella ◽  
José Alonso López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
City Council ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Health In All Policies

Introduction: The Interdepartamental Public Health Plan of Catalonia (2014) seeks to enforce Health in All Policies (HiAP) at the regional and local levels. Within this context, the City Council of Sant Andreu de la Barca (SAB), the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB), and the Public Health Agency of Catalonia started a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of an urbanistic redesign of the Llobregat fluvial area in SAB, the results of which are presented in this paper. Methodology: In 2018, after a HIA screening, a prospective nonquantitative HIA was conducted. Politicians, professionals, and citizens participated in identifying potential impacts. Impacts were prioritized and linked to health determinants, scientific evidence, and potentially affected social groups. Afterwards, recommendations were formulated in order to improve the health impacts of the project. Finally, indicators were selected to evaluate HIA implementation. Results: The HIA was successfully implemented with the participation of technicians and citizens of SAB. The health impacts identified were mainly related to environmental, public safety, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and political contexts. Ten recommendations were defined to minimize the potential negative health impacts of the project, with six of them directly included and only one dismissed due to incompatibility. Conclusion: A HIA was successfully carried out in the medium-sized town of Catalonia, promoting Health in all Policies at a local level and improving health impacts of an urbanistic project.

Health impact assessment of wastewater reuse for replenishing an urban landscape lake by disability-adjusted life year

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-381
Author(s):  
Rong Chen ◽  
Tingting Gao ◽  
Xiaochang Wang ◽  
Jinhong Zhou ◽  
Limei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Wastewater Reuse ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life Year

Wastewater reuse for landscape water replenishment has raised severe public concerns over potential health hazards. Thus, this study aims to quantify the health impacts due to the replenishment of Lake Cui in Kunming with reclaimed water. Based on experimental analyses, Escherichia coli and norovirus were determined as the major pathogens in Lake Cui. Three typical exposure routes, namely river cleaning, boating and road flushing were identified during a field investigation. The disease burden, expressed by disability-adjusted life year (DALY) was evaluated and compared with the infection risk obtained by quantitative microbial risk assessment. Findings showed that the disease burden due to road flushing was highest compared to the other pathways. For the different pathogens, E. coli was the leading cause of DALYs. As well, infection risk for the two pathogens exceeded the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) risk level of 10−4, while the disease burdens were below the WHO threshold of 10−6 DALYs. Thus, infection risk should not be regarded as the endpoint for health impact assessment. By contrast, the disease burden is much more suitable for quantifying the health hazard due to environmental pollution. The methodology introduced in this study provides new directions for the evaluation of health impacts related to water reuse for landscape ecology.

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