scholarly journals Updating the Minimum Elements and Practice Standards for HIA to Reflect Evolution in the Field of Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Sandra Whitehead ◽  
James Dills ◽  
Emily Bever ◽  
Ruth Lindberg
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health In All Policies ◽  
Practice Standards

The Minimum Elements and Practice Standards for Health Impact Assessment (MEPS) outline the minimum elements that need to be addressed for a study to be considered a health impact assessment (HIA), as well as best practices for how an HIA should be conducted. The document was originally created by a group of leading HIA practitioners in 2009. Since then, it has been updated twice to reflect the evolution of HIA as a practice and the expanded use of HIA as a tool to implement health in all policies. This commentary describes current efforts to revise the MEPS—the first update in six years.

scholarly journals Recent Advances in Health Impact Assessment and Health in All Policies Implementation: Lessons from an International Convening in Barcelona

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 7714
Author(s):  
Bethany Rogerson ◽  
Ruth Lindberg ◽  
Fran Baum ◽  
Carlos Dora ◽  
Fiona Haigh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Health In All Policies ◽  
The World ◽  
International Banks ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Health in All Policies (HiAP) are policy tools used to include health considerations in decision-making processes across sectors such as transportation, education, and criminal justice that can play a role in improving health and equity. This article summarizes proceedings from an international convening of HIA and HiAP experts held in July 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. The presentations and panel discussions included different models, best practices, and lessons learned, including from government, international banks, think tanks, and academia. Participants discussed ideas from around the world for cross-sector collaboration to advance health. The convening covered the following topics: community engagement, building greater understanding of and support for HiAP, and exploring how mandates for HIA and HiAP approaches may advance health and equity.

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.

scholarly journals Opportunities and strategies for HIA implementation – from a public health perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
O Mekel ◽  
P Martin-Olmedo ◽  
T Classen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health In All Policies ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
Policy Arena

Abstract Health Impact Assessment (HIA) has various origins: environmental health, health promotion with the perspective of the wider determinants of health, and health equity. These three individual but related areas are linked by the overall aim of promoting healthier programmes, policies and projects, which are developed in non-health sectors mostly. As a consequence, this led to a significant use of HIA worldwide. The areas are complementary, but given their different original frameworks, applied methodologies may differ. Another typology of characterizing HIA can be done by the purpose for which HIA has been conducted in practice: mandated, decision support, advocacy and community-led HIA. These forms are important with regard to HIA implementation strategies. By now, the consideration of health in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has become an established feature, not least due to the mandatory legal basis in many countries of the world. However, this situation is different for application in other policy areas so far. Some countries, in the absence of specific HIA legislation, have established HIA support units to conduct, commission, support HIA and deliver training. Advocacy and community-led HIA are mainly carried out by non-governmental organisations and universities. However, in general the potential of HIA has not yet been fully recognised: HIA is seen as a time-consuming and costly process and the effectiveness of HIA has not yet been communicated convincingly. The Health in All Policies approach is becoming increasingly important in the policy arena as a strategy to reduce non-communicable diseases by policies from non-health sectors. This requires different public health methods for implementation. HIA is particularly suitable for this. This development offers new opportunities for the implementation of HIA, which will be presented in detail.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment (HIA): A Comparative Case Study of Sri Lanka and Wales: What Can a Developing Country Learn From the Welsh HIA System?

2020 ◽  
pp. 002073142094145
Author(s):  
Yasaswi N Walpita ◽  
Liz Green
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Health In All Policies

The health impact assessment (HIA) is increasingly recognized around the world as an effective governance tool to incorporate Health in All Policies to address the wider determinants of health. However, it is still poorly recognized and practiced in many developing countries, including Sri Lanka, where its applicability is most appropriate considering the complexity of social determinants of health and inequalities. This comparative case study aimed to explore the barriers for implementation of HIA in Sri Lanka in the areas of supportive policy framework, institutional infrastructure, capacity-building, and multi-sectoral collaboration and to compare them with a successful HIA system in a developed country (Wales) with a view toward identifying the “best practices” applicable in a developing country context. The case study revealed that there is an emerging government commitment in Sri Lanka to embrace the Health in All Policies approach and much potential in the health system to develop a centrally dedicated expert team with peripheral counterparts and multi-sectoral collaboration, which were the primary pillars of success in the Welsh system. However, there is a great need for capacity-building and for development of country-specific tools, which would facilitate the establishment and sustainability of HIA processes in Sri Lanka.

Health in All Policies: Addressing the Legal and Policy Foundations of Health Impact Assessment

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (S1) ◽  
pp. 27-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Rajotte ◽  
Catherine L. Ross ◽  
Chinyere O. Ekechi ◽  
Vladimir N. Cadet
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health In All Policies ◽  
Policymaking And Implementation ◽  
Healthier Living ◽  
Health Organization

The concept of Health in All Policies aims to improve the health outcomes associated with policies in an attempt to mitigate health disparities and provide optimal environments for healthier living. This multidisciplinary framework seeks to improve health through effective assessment and reformation of policy for organizations of any level and stature. The importance of integrating health in policy assessment and decision making is a key concept in the growing field of Health Impact Assessment.The World Health Organization defines Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as “a combination of procedures, methods, and tools by which a policy, program, or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population.” HIA provides a mechanism for collaboration between various sectors and disciplines bridging the gap between research, policymaking, and implementation of policies, programs, and projects affecting health outcomes. In the United States, while some HIA efforts have focused on proposed public policies, HIA has been used primarily to analyze the health effects of proposed development projects and plans related to community design and transportation.

scholarly journals ‘Health in All Policies’—A Key Driver for Health and Well-Being in a Post-COVID-19 Pandemic World

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9468
Author(s):  
Liz Green ◽  
Kathryn Ashton ◽  
Mark A. Bellis ◽  
Timo Clemens ◽  
Margaret Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Health In All Policies ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Time To Build ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Policy in all sectors affects health, through multiple pathways and determinants. Health in all policies (HiAP) is an approach that seeks to identify and influence the health and equity impacts of policy decisions, to enhance health benefits and avoid harm. This usually involves the use of health impact assessment or health lens analysis. There is growing international experience in these approaches, and some countries have cross-sectoral governance structures that prioritize the assessment of the policies that are most likely to affect health. The fundamental elements of HiAP are inter-sectoral collaboration, policy influence, and holistic consideration of the range of health determinants affected by a policy area or proposal. HiAP requires public health professionals to invest time to build partnerships and engage meaningfully with the sectors affecting the social determinants of health and health equity. With commitment, political will and tools such as the health impact assessment, it provides a powerful approach to integrated policymaking that promotes health, well-being, and equity. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the profile of public health and highlighted the links between health and other policy areas. This paper describes the rationale for, and principles underpinning, HiAP mechanisms, including HIA, experiences, challenges and opportunities for the future.

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