I t’s 4:00 p.m., Friday afternoon, and some­ one unfamiliar is knocking on your of­ fice door. She introduces herself as a city planner and asks whether you could help her with an upcoming redevelopment deci­ sion. She knows the health department has environmental health, chronic disease, and injury programs, and that redevelopment affects these issues. She came to your office first because she...

Health impact assessment (HIA) has its origins in environmental impact assessment methodology. New Zealand's approach to health impact assessment is consistent with other countries. During the 1990s, legislation that related to the management of natural and physical resources provided the basis for public health engagement in impact assessment. In the mid 1990s, the Public Health Commission rel...

Objective: To introduce a conceptual structure that can be used to organise the evidence base for Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Background: HIA can be used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project on a population, and the distribution of those effects. Progress has been made in incorporating HIA into routine practice, especially (in the UK) at local level. Howev...

This paper explores the use of health impact assessment (HIA) as a means of facilitating community engagement in spatial planning. The paper discusses the background to the development of HIA as a tool for assessing the likely impact of policies and wider changes on health with a view to building those into planning and decision-making, and describes the evolution of HIA into more participatory...

The purpose of this study was to assess a health impact assessment (HIA) tool to determine the perceived health impact by the public of a public park. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study from March to April, 2011, using this HIA questionnaire to collect data and through focus group discussions. We also assessed community concerns about the park and obtained recommendations of how to m...

OBJECTIVE To introduce a conceptual structure that can be used to organise the evidence base for Health Impact Assessment (HIA). BACKGROUND HIA can be used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project on a population, and the distribution of those effects. Progress has been made in incorporating HIA into routine practice, especially (in the UK) at local level. Howev...

OBJECTIVE To describe the use and reporting of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Australia and New Zealand between 2005 and 2009. METHODS We identified 115 HIAs undertaken in Australia and New Zealand between 2005 and 2009. We reviewed 55 HIAs meeting the study's inclusion criteria to identify characteristics and appraise the quality of the reports. RESULTS Of the 55 HIAs, 31 were undertake...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been a strong and persistent voice calling for the recognition of the role of health in development and of the impact of socio-economic development on health. Health impact assessment (HIA) is one mechanism that can be used to achieve this goal. The objective of this paper is to describe HIA practice in the WHO European Healthy Cities Network and present ...

While health impact assessment (HIA) has typically been applied to projects, plans or policies, it has significant potential with regard to strategic considerations of major health issues facing society such as climate change. Given the complexity of climate change, assessing health impacts presents new challenges that may require different approaches compared to traditional applications of HIA...