scholarly journals Expanding The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Health Impact Assessment

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-49
Author(s):  
Lisa Yazel-Smith ◽  
Andrew Merkley ◽  
Robin Danek ◽  
Cynthia Stone
Keyword(s):  
Community Organizations ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Safety Considerations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Additional Space

Background Health Impact Assessments (HIA) are a tool used to measure the effect of policies and/or projects that may influence the health of populations. As a way to increase HIA practitioners, university courses in HIA can benefit both students and community organizations by presenting real-world opportunities for students to conduct HIA while partnering with community organizations or policy makers.   Methods In order to conduct the rapid HIA to assess the Indiana Cultural Train (ICT) expansion, students in a graduate-level course conducted a five step HIA process of screening, scoping, assessment, recommendations and reporting, and monitoring and evaluating three potential trail expansion routes. Students examined local health data, conducted walkability assessments, and conducted seven key stakeholder interviews to gather data.   Results The results of data analysis show that the Riley Hospital Drive/Gateway Bridge is the best potential route for expansion due to safety considerations and the impact on the adjacent Ransom Place neighborhood. Six of the seven key informants were in favor of the expansion, with the two most cited reasons being additional space for exercise and recreation and the potential economic impact and connection to local businesses in the area.   Conclusions The expansion across the proposed Gateway Bridge would combat parking issues associated with expanding the trail through Ransom Place as well as be the safest way to approach the large intersections. With local residents’ concerns of gentrification and safety in mind, the ICT trail expansion could lead to increased health outcomes by offering additional space for exercise, recreation, and active transportation.

From research desk to policy makers and community: MUHAS research symposia and policy briefs targeting the stakeholders

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-122
Author(s):  
Hendry R. Sawe ◽  
Bruno F. Sunguya ◽  
Eligius F. Lyamuya
Keyword(s):  
Research Output ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Child Transmission ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mother To Child ◽  
Different Parts

All too frequent, valuable research output and scholarly materials from expensively conducted research work in different parts of the world end up in research desks, academic libraries, and scientific journals. Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science (MUHAS) through the Directorate of Research and Publications initiated a series of symposia that aim to disseminate the evidence generated by the researchers to the policy makers and the community. In two of the six conducted University-wide symposia in the last one year, MUHAS produced two important policy briefs summarizing the impact of MUHAS research in two important—though distinct areas of local and global health impact—Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, and Diarrhea diseases.

scholarly journals Valuing environmental health for informed policy-making

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 171-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Máca ◽  
Jan Melichar ◽  
Milan Ščasný ◽  
Markéta Braun Kohlová
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
External Costs ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Geographic Coverage ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Monetized environmental health impact assessments help to better evaluate the environmental burden of a wide range of economic activities. Apart from the limitations and uncertainties in physical and biological science used in such assessments, assumptions taken from economic valuation may also substantially influence subsequent policy-making considerations. Aim: This study attempts to demonstrate the impact of normative policy assumptions on quantified external costs using a case study of recently discussed variants of future coal mining and use of extracted coal in electricity and heat generation in the Czech Republic. Methods: A bottom-up impact-pathway approach is used for quantification of external costs. Several policy perspectives are elaborated for aggregating impacts that differ in geographic coverage and in how valuation of quantified impacts is adjusted in a particular perspective. Results: We find that the fraction of monetized external impacts taken into policy-making considerations may vary according to choice of decision perspective up to a factor of 10. Conclusion: At present there are virtually no hard rules for defining geographical boundaries or adjusting values for a summation of monetized environmental impacts. We, however, stress that any rigorous external cost assessment should, for instance in a separate calculation, take account of impacts occurring beyond country borders.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment: An Information Needs Assessment Across Sectors

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Wes Quattrone ◽  
Melissa Callaham ◽  
Stephen Brown ◽  
Tatiana Lin ◽  
Jamie Pina
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Professional Fields ◽  
The Impact

Background: Over the last decade, the number of health impact assessments (HIAs) conducted has increased. The information contained in these studies provides valuable guidance for stakeholders in many professional fields and industries, also known as sectors. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that practitioners across sectors have unmet information needs and are facing challenges accessing and using information. Methods: The research team conducted a series of focus groups to explore the information needs of practitioners across sectors and to identify challenges they face accessing this information. Participants were stratified by geographic location, sector affiliation, and level of expertise with HIAs. Results: Findings suggest that practitioners from all sectors can benefit from the integration of health-related information, and the information contained in HIAs, into their work. Reported information needs include baseline data, geocoded socio-demographic information, and granular local data. Participants indicated that they obtain information from their professional network, universities sponsoring research, and online resources. Information challenges include lack of data that match the size and the scope of the target area of interest, proprietary or pay-for-access sources, varying terminology for the same concepts across sectors, inadequate resources and HIA expertise for searching, and limited information on the impact of findings of prior completed HIAs. Discussion: Identifying and understanding the information needs of practitioners is essential to maximizing the use of existing and future HIAs. An interactive and comprehensive web-based repository system for HIAs may provide value and assist stakeholders in meeting these needs.

A New Movement Based on Old Ideas

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-27
Author(s):  
John Macdonald ◽  
Charles Branas ◽  
Robert Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biological Impacts

This chapter traces the history of select endeavors that focused on place-based changes as a mechanism to improve the health, safety, and well-being of urban residents. Unfortunately, these endeavors evolved in silos, with urban planners and public-health and criminal-justice practitioners working largely in isolation from one another. The successes and limited uptake of these isolated endeavors are brought to light as the chapter looks at how they were overshadowed by individually focused therapies and interventions. Many people probably think that good science is already inherently involved when a place gets altered or a development gets built; this is perhaps the case with respect to the physical science of certain placemaking endeavors. However, the health and biological impacts of buildings and larger developments are very often left out, or only modestly considered as part of environmental or health-impact assessments. As such, there is a need to invigorate a new movement that connects social scientists, planners, and policy makers. Indeed, the best placemaking occurs when it is supported by empirical evaluation of its impacts on humans with the active involvement of scientists.

Conflict, Peace and Mental Health

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bolton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Training And Education ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Therapy Services ◽  
Evidence Based Therapy ◽  
The Impact

What are the human consequences of war, conflict and terrorism, and what are the appropriate policy and service responses? This book seeks to provide some answers to these important questions, drawing upon over 25 years’ work by the author in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Focusing on the work undertaken following the Omagh bombing in 1998, the book describes how needs were assessed and understood, how evidence-based therapy services were put in place and the training and education programmes that were developed to assist first those communities affected by the Omagh bombing - and later the wider population affected by the years of conflict. The author places the mental health needs of conflict-affected victims and communities at the heart of the political and peace processes that follow when conflicts end. This is a practical book and will be of particular interest to those planning for and responding to conflict-related disasters and terrorism, policy makers, service commissioners and providers, politicians, diplomats, civil servants, leaders of religion, peace builders and peace makers. It also includes an extensive overview of the efforts to understand the mental health impact of the years of violence in Northern Ireland, reviewing for example, the impacts of loss and PTSD, why it seemed to take so long to recognise the impact, and the challenges of undertaking research in a community that is in violent conflict.

scholarly journals PENGARUH POSITIF PARIWISATA TERHADAP KEPUASAN HIDUP DAN NILAI CO CREATION PADA KOMUNITAS DI LINGKAR KEK MANDALIKA

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Baiq Handayani Rinuastuti ◽  
Akhmad Saufi ◽  
Thatok Asmony
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Special Economic Zone ◽  
Tourism Impacts ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Tourism Marketing ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Community Behavior ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
The Impact

Understanding community behavior related to the impact of tourism as well as the consequences of these impacts is an important matter to be studied in the effort to develop tourism in the future. The purpose of this study is to analyze the positive impact of tourism felt by residents in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone which can affect their life satisfaction and the willingness of the population to create co-creation values with tourists. The results showed that the positive effects of tourism activities and life satisfaction significantly affected the value of Co Creation, but the positive impact of tourism had a not significant effect on life satisfaction. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the development of theory, especially tourism marketing from the perspective of local residents. In addition, it can be used as a basis for consideration of policy makers in the development and marketing of tourism in the Mandalika Special Economic area.Keywords : Positive tourism impacts, life satisfaction, co-creation value, Mandalika SEZ

The Impact of Different Validation Datasets on Air Quality Modeling Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (25) ◽  
pp. 57-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haneen Khreis ◽  
Kees de Hoogh ◽  
Josias Zietsman ◽  
Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Atmospheric Dispersion ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Validation Dataset ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Secondary Objective ◽  
Pollution Modeling ◽  
The Impact

Many studies rely on air pollution modeling such as land use regression (LUR) or atmospheric dispersion (AD) modeling in epidemiological and health impact assessments. Generally, these models are only validated using one validation dataset and their estimates at select receptor points are generalized to larger areas. The primary objective of this paper was to explore the effect of different validation datasets on the validation of air quality models. The secondary objective was to explore the effect of the model estimates’ spatial resolution on the models’ validity at different locations. Annual NOx and NO2 were generated using a LUR and an AD model. These estimates were validated against four measurement datasets, once when estimates were made at the exact locations of the validation points and once when estimates were made at the centroid of the 100m×100m grid in which the validation point fell. The validation results varied substantially based on the model and validation dataset used. The LUR models’ R2 ranged between 21% and 58%, based on the validation dataset. The AD models’ R2 ranged between 13% and 56% based on the validation dataset and the use of constant or varying background NOx. The validation results based on model estimates at the exact validation site locations were much better than those based on a 100m×100m grid. This paper demonstrated the value of validating modeled air quality against various datasets and suggested that the spatial resolution of the models’ estimates has a significant influence on the validity at the application point.

A REVIEW OF FINNISH SOCIAL AND HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

2004 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAPANI KAUPPINEN ◽  
KIRSI NELIMARKKA
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Strategic Impact ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the ways in which Human Impact Assessment has been integrated into plans and programmes in Finland. The EIA Act requires that the impacts on humans should also be taken into account in assessment. The programmes reviewed have been selected from various sectors, including traffic, energy, forestry and land use. Some common features, strengths and development needs were revealed in the impact assessments. On the basis of this material, at least three procedural challenges to strategic impact assessment can be identified: the differentiation between impacts caused by the programme and other societal changes; the sufficient assessment of undesirable impacts; and the definition of concepts used in the programmes.

scholarly journals Population Dynamics and Air Pollution: The Impact of Demographics on Health Impact Assessment of Air Pollution

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esben Meulengracht Flachs ◽  
Jan Sørensen ◽  
Jakob Bønløkke ◽  
Henrik Brønnum-Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Health Impact Assessments ◽  
Mortality Causes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Municipal Level

Objective. To explore how three different assumptions on demographics affect the health impact of Danish emitted air pollution in Denmark from 2005 to 2030, with health impact modeled from 2005 to 2050.Methods. Modeled air pollution from Danish sources was used as exposure in a newly developed health impact assessment model, which models four major diseases and mortality causes in addition to all-cause mortality. The modeling was at the municipal level, which divides the approximately 5.5 M residents in Denmark into 99 municipalities. Three sets of demographic assumptions were used: (1) a static year 2005 population, (2) morbidity and mortality fixed at the year 2005 level, or (3) an expected development.Results. The health impact of air pollution was estimated at 672,000, 290,000, and 280,000 lost life years depending on demographic assumptions and the corresponding social costs at 430.4 M€, 317.5 M€, and 261.6 M€ through the modeled years 2005–2050.Conclusion. The modeled health impact of air pollution differed widely with the demographic assumptions, and thus demographics and assumptions on demographics played a key role in making health impact assessments on air pollution.

scholarly journals Using epidemiology to estimate the impact and burden of exposure to air pollutants

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2183) ◽  
pp. 20190321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M. Gowers ◽  
Heather Walton ◽  
Karen S. Exley ◽  
J. Fintan Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Particulate Air Pollution ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
The Impact

This paper focuses on the use of results of epidemiological studies to quantify the effects on health, particularly on mortality, of long-term exposure to air pollutants. It introduces health impact assessment methods, used to predict the benefits that can be expected from implementation of interventions to reduce emissions of pollutants. It also explains the estimation of annual mortality burdens attributable to current levels of pollution. Burden estimates are intended to meet the need to communicate the size of the effect of air pollution on public health to policy makers and others. The implications, for the interpretation of the estimates, of the assumptions and approximations underlying the methods are discussed. The paper starts with quantification based on results obtained from studies of the association of mortality risk with long-term average concentrations of particulate air pollution. It then tackles the additional methodological considerations that need to be addressed when also considering the mortality effects of other pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). Finally, approaches that could be used to integrate morbidity and mortality endpoints in the same assessment are touched upon. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’.

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