Health Impact Assessment of Transportation Projects and Policies: Living Up to Aims of Advancing Population Health and Health Equity?

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a forward-looking, evidence-based tool used to inform stakeholders and policy makers about the potential health effects of proposed projects and policies and to identify options for maximizing potential health benefits and minimizing potential harm. This review examines how health equity, a core principle of health impact assessment (HIA), has been operationalized in HIAs conducted in the United States in one sector, transportation. Two perspectives on promoting health equity appear in the broader public health research literature; one aims at reducing disparities in health determinants and outcomes in affected populations, whereas the other focuses on facilitating community participation and self-determination. Variations in how these perspectives are applied in HIA informed our typology of five ways of addressing health equity in HIA. Transportation HIAs commonly included two of these—selecting vulnerable populations for the focus of the HIA and stakeholder engagement, seen in more than 70% of the 96 HIAs reviewed. Fewer than half of the HIAs assessed current health disparities or changes in their distribution. Only 15% of HIAs addressed equity by focusing on capabilities development or empowerment. Routinely assessing and reporting how an HIA aims to address health equity might better manage expectations and could make HIA practitioners and users more conscious of how an HIA can realistically be used to advance health equity.

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Tracking State-Level Health Impact Assessment Legislation from 2012-2016

Chronicles of Health Impact Assessment ◽

10.18060/22249 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Joshua Waimberg ◽

Lindsay K. Cloud ◽

Andrew T. Campbell ◽

Ruth Lindberg ◽

Keshia M. Pollack

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

State Level ◽

Health Impact ◽

The United States ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Health Determinants ◽

Time Period ◽

Legislative Activity

Background: To collect and analyze state-level Health Impact Assessment (HIA) legislative activity. Methods: Two longitudinal datasets examining state-level HIA legislation across the United States between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016 were developed using the policy surveillance process. One dataset captures the characteristics of all HIA bills that were introduced and failed, or introduced and were still under consideration, during the time period of the study; the second dataset captures the characteristics of all HIA laws that were enacted or amended, including statutes and regulations. Results: Forty-three HIA bills were introduced that require, encourage, or incentivize the use of an HIA, and three of these bills were enacted or amended into law, between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016. Conclusions: Additional research is necessary to understand the factors that drive success or failure of HIA legislation, and the impacts of such legislation when implemented on decision-making, health determinants and outcomes, and health equity. Policy Implications: Although legislation can encourage further use of HIAs, they need to provide sufficient clarity, guidance, and resources to effectively foster use of HIAs.

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Addressing Health Equity in Health Impact Assessment

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e507502013-199 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Brendan Smith

Keyword(s):

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Equity ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact ◽

Equity In Health

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Growing the field of health impact assessment in the United States: an agenda for research and practice.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1065827.518766 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Patz

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact ◽

The United States ◽

Research And Practice

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

Chronicles of Health Impact Assessment ◽

10.18060/24320 ◽

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.

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Correction to: Avenues of Influence: the Relationship between Health Impact Assessment and Determinants of Health and Health Equity

Journal of Urban Health ◽

10.1007/s11524-018-0305-z ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 95 (5) ◽

pp. 765-765

Author(s):

Elizabeth Kelley Sohn ◽

Lauren J. Stein ◽

Allison Wolpoff ◽

Ruth Lindberg ◽

Abigail Baum ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Equity ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

The Relationship

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Methods to Conduct a Health Impact Assessment Learning Collaborative

Chronicles of Health Impact Assessment ◽

10.18060/23874 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cynthia Stone ◽

Andrea Bochenek ◽

Alison Redenz ◽

Elinor Hansotte

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Health Sector ◽

Health Impact ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Public Health Department ◽

Learning Collaborative ◽

Potential Health ◽

Marion County

Background: Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health (IU FSPH) and the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, through the Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD), created a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Learning Collaborative. The purpose of the HIA Learning Collaborative was to strengthen the capacity of both the academic and community partners to carry out HIAs. Entities recognize the value of creating a collaborative team to assure personnel are trained and available to provide time and expertise for plan reviews, formal feedback, data reports, literature summaries, and input in potential health/social impacts related to projects, which can ensure these impacts are considered in development work. In addition, the MCPHD and IU FSHP intend to increase HIA capacity in Indiana and remain committed to including health impact data into non-health sector decision making. Methods: The group planned to meet monthly over the year with the following learning objectives. A survey was created in Survey Monkey in order to evaluate the overall HIA Learning Collaborative experience and to assess whether or not the learning objectives were met. The survey consisted of 11 questions: nine were multiple choice and two were open-ended. Results: The majority of the objectives were met. Conclusion: There is interest in conducting HIAs in the future and several ideas were generated.

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Scientometric analysis of health impact assessment of outdoor air pollution by WHO-AirQ tool (2005-2019)

Journal of Air Pollution and Health ◽

10.18502/japh.v6i2.7953 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sheida Malekafzali ◽

Seyed Ali Jozi ◽

Morteza Kashefiolasl ◽

Mojgan Zaeimdar ◽

Mohsen Sahti

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Total Mortality ◽

Health Impact ◽

Research Literature ◽

World Health ◽

Scientometric Analysis ◽

Regional Office

Introduction: This study provides a scientometric analysis of the health impact assessment within AirQ between 2005 and 2019, which are listed in the web science databases. Studies have been conducted in various indexed journals, researchers in World Health Organization (WHO) regional areas on product articles, international collaboration, and citation and keyword analysis. Materials and methods: Bibliographic records of research publications and articles were found and after screening process were input to study plan. The authors compared the growth of article that was published in this period time, conducted a citation and co-authorship analysis, and keywords co-occurrences relationship by publication using the scientometric visualization, VOSviewer. Results: The AirQ applying tool in research literature has seen most increase in 2017 production over the study period. Contributions by authors affiliated with WHO-Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) account for the most research literature. Most of studies focus on particles Particulate Matter with diameter <10 µm (PM ) and Particulate Matter with diameter <2.5µm (PM 2.5) and according to total mortality and in hospital admission, Respiratory Disease (RD) and Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) are most commonly. Conclusion: All potential of AirQ has not been used in studies. Despite all function its scope is limited to several countries in the WHO regions. Implementation of “Driving Force, Pressure, State, Exposure, Effect, and Action” (DPSEEA) conceptual model need some evidence that AirQ can achieve and estimate Health Impact Assessment (HIA) but we didn’t find any articles that work on intervention by it on policy makers and management programs.

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Health impact assessment: what it takes, what it can and cannot deliver

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.726 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

M Martuzzi ◽

J Nowacki

Keyword(s):

Impact Assessment ◽

Health Impact Assessment ◽

Critical Evaluation ◽

Health Sector ◽

Health Impact ◽

Health Determinants ◽

Constant Attention ◽

Open Questions ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Political Environments

Abstract WHO, along with other health agencies, has been long promoting intersectoral action between health and all sectors of society, so as to address major, “upstream” determinants of health. Sectors as environment, transport, energy, agriculture etc, influence countless, powerful such determinants, mostly out of reach for the health sector; health-friendly (or at least health-minded) decisions on those determinants can result in a strong leverage for health advocates to achieve primary prevention. This undertaking requires: the establishment of a common language to be used with other sectors; the recognition of the complex web of causation between health determinants and health outcomes; commitment to working with a broad model of health combined with a preparedness to prioritise where necessary; a sound comprehension of the reality of decision making in different political environments; realistic expectations on what can and cannot be achieved through cross-sectoral dialogue; willingness to listen to stakeholders; constant attention towards health equity. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an established approach towards these goals. HIA describes a broad range of methods and tools, building on different disciplines and expertise. HIA aims at estimating and predicting consequences and impacts of proposed policies and plans, with the ultimate goal of influencing decisions, making them more health friendly, equitable, legitimate and sustainable. The practice of HIA has been evolving in the last 20 years. Many years of application have been instrumental in identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in different settings. HIA has delivered handsomely in some countries or regions, while it struggles to become established in others. A continued critical evaluation of successes and failures remain important to make further progress in this domain. In this presentation, WHO will present recent progress and open questions on the practice of HIA in Europe.

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