HIA Resources
Anyone interested in submitting an application for a health impact assessment (HIA) demonstration project grant, or simply learning more about the field, can find many resources on the Web. The sites and articles listed below provide everything from short descriptions of successful projects to online teaching tools. Some of these resources focus on the United States, where HIAs use is still growing, while others examine experience in the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.
GENERAL HIA RESOURCES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy Places: The CDC site offers an overview of the HIA process and points to other sites and articles that provide deeper context. www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/hia.htm
Health Impact Assessment Clearinghouse Learning and Information Center (HIA-CLIC): This site, administered by the University of California, Los Angeles, summarizes and links to dozens of HIAs conducted in the United States. It also provides HIA guides, news, academic research and links to other HIA resources. www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/hiaclic/
HIA Blog: This blog offers commentary on worldwide HIA and health policy developments. Its authors are health policy researchers at the University of New South Wales and the Institute of Occupational Medicine in the United Kingdom. healthimpactassessment.blogspot.com/
HIA Connect: An Australian offering, this site gives an overview of HIAs and links to guides, research and news. Sponsored by the University of New South Wales, it is intended to support efforts by Australians to undertake HIAs, though much of its information relates generally to the HIA process. www.hiaconnect.edu.au/
HIA Gateway: The British Association of Public Health Observatories operates this information clearinghouse. Guides, reports and case examples found here give detailed advice on conducting and evaluating HIAs. The site includes a glossary of HIA terms. www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=P_HIA
Human Impact Partners: A California nonprofit that is a leader in conducting HIAs in the United States, Health Impact Partners gives details on its projects, including the Humboldt County, California, development plan and the expansion of Interstate 710 in the Los Angeles area. The site provides an HIA toolkit as well as HIA training materials and other resources. humanimpact.org/
IMPACT/International HIA Consortium: IMPACT, based at the United Kingdom’s University of Liverpool, does HIA research, consulting and training. Its Web site provides links to its HIAs, which address topics ranging from employment programs to generating energy by burning waste. www.liv.ac.uk/ihia/
North American HIA Practice Standards Working Group. (2009). Practice Standards for Health Impact Assessment, Version 1. North American HIA Practice Standards Working Group, April 7, 2009. www.sfphes.org/HIA_Practice_Standards.htm
San Francisco Department of Environmental Health Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability (and the San Francisco Bay Area HIA Collaborative): San Francisco and Los Angeles have pioneered the use of HIAs in the United States. This site outlines San Francisco’s HIA methodologies and explains how the city applies them. The “Tools” page provides contact information for local officials knowledgeable about particular techniques. www.sfphes.org/
University of California (UC), Berkeley, Health Impact Group: The Health Impact Group, an affiliate of UC, Berkeley, promotes and conducts HIAs in the San Francisco Bay area. This site summarizes the group’s work and offers links to other HIA resources. sites.google.com/site/ucbhia/
World Health Organization (WHO) Health Impact Assessment: A WHO Web site specializing in international HIAs, its examples span a variety of issues and countries, from the closure of public swimming pools in Scotland to the entry of poisonous spiders into New Zealand. www.who.int/hia/en/
TRAINING
Human Impact Partners: Health Impact Partners’ “Tools” page provides an HIA toolkit as well as HIA training materials and links to other resources. http://www.humanimpact.org/projects
Planning for Healthy Places with Health Impact Assessment: This online course, developed by the American Planning Association and the National Association of County & City Health Officials, walks users through the steps of a typical HIA. It concludes with a quiz. professional.captus.com/Planning/hia/default.aspx
HIA EXAMPLES
Health Impact Assessment Clearinghouse Learning and Information Center (HIA-CLIC): This site, sponsored by the University of California, Los Angeles, summarizes and links to dozens of HIAs conducted in the United States. www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/hiaclic/
HIA Gateway: The British Association of Public Health Observatories operates this information clearinghouse. Case examples found here give detailed advice on conducting and evaluating HIAs. www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=P_HIA
Human Impact Partners: The “Projects” section of this site offers information about HIAs, both completed or currently being conducted, by Human Impact Partners. humanimpact.org/projects
PUBLICATIONS
Dannenberg, Andrew L., Rajiv Bhatia, Brian L. Cole, Sarah K. Heaton, et al. 2008. “Use of health impact assessment in the U.S.: 27 case studies, 1999–2007.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 34(3):241–256.
- A crucial reference on U.S. practice, this article provides a table of HIA case studies, completed through 2007, and outlines the policy issue, methodology and outcome in each one.
Centre for European Health Policy. 1999. Gothenburg Consensus Statement.
- This seminal document walks through the theoretical and practical problems of conducting an HIA. It clarifies key concepts and suggests an approach to doing HIAs at all levels—international, national, tribal and local.
Bhatia R, Wernham, A. 2008. "Integrating human health into environmental impact assessment: An unrealized opportunity for environmental health and justice." Environmental Health Perspectives 116(8): 991-1000.
- This work addresses the benefits and challenges of incorporating HIAs into environmental impact assessments (EIAs). It includes case studies from San Francisco, California, and rural Alaska.
Cole, Brian L., and Jonathan E. Fielding. 2007. “Health impact assessment: A tool to help policy makers understand health beyond health care.” The Annual Review of Public Health 28: 393-412.
- This overview offers everything from a classification of the different types of HIAs, with examples from the United States, to a discussion of the interplay of HIAs and EIAs.
Brian L. Cole, Michelle Wilhelm, Peter V. Long, Jonathan E. Fielding, Gerald Kominski and Hal Morgenstern. 2004. “Prospects for health impact assessment in the United States: New and improved environmental impact assessment or something different?” Journal of Health Politics and Law 29(6): 1153-1181.
- Interviews with environmental experts provide context for a discussion of the lack of consideration given to health outcomes in many EIAs and an assessment of whether HIAs can improve EIAs without making them more burdensome.
Collins, Janet, and Jeffrey P. Koplan. 2009. “Health impact assessment: A step toward health in all policies.” Journal of the American Medical Association 302(3): 315-317.
- This recent article explains the HIA’s origin in the EIA process and examines its recent growth in the United States.
Dannenberg, Andrew L., Rajiv Bhatia, Brian L. Cole, Carlos Dora, et al. 2006. “Growing the field of health impact assessment in the United States: An agenda for research and practice.” American Journal of Public Health 96(2):262-270.
- A workshop for HIA experts produced this catalog of HIA tools and findings from the field as well as a list of questions that researchers should address to advance the field.
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