The Value of HIA for EH Professionals Sandra F. Whitehead, Director of Program and Partnership Development Patricia Cummings, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services June 15, 2016

HIA Community of Practice (CoP) The goal of the CoP is to promote the use of HIA among LHDs by providing a peer-to-peer collaborative environment to connect practitioners, sharing relevant information and innovative models of practice and lessons learned, and increasing access to technical assistance, webinars, and other educational information or skill-building opportunities. With support from the Health Impact Project, the goal of NACCHO’s CoP is to promote the use of HIA among LHDs by providing a peer-to-peer collaborative environment to connect practitioners, sharing relevant information and innovative models of practice and lessons learned, and increasing access to technical assistance, webinars, and other educational information or skill-building opportunities. Benefits of CoP Membership: Participating in the CoP provides you and your local health department an opportunity to improve and shape the HIA field, particularly practice at local health departments nationwide. You and your LHD also have a chance to network and learn from other local health department-based practitioners, contribute to developing needed resources, and build your subject matter expertise in HIA. You will also have increased access to technical assistance and timely access to information, such as upcoming funding opportunities.  

CoP Workgroups Integrating HIA into CHIP/CHA planning and Accreditation Modeling tools Budgeting Targeted Marketing Repository of Tools

Example – Modeling Tools Workgroup Prediction Models help HIA practitioners forecast health effects Slide has animation so the top overlaid table will come in later

Is HIA Environmental Health? Environmental Health is the science and practice of preventing human injury and illness and promoting well-being by: Identifying and evaluating environmental sources and hazardous agents; and Limiting exposures to hazardous physical, chemical, and biological agents in air, water, food, soil and other environmental media or settings that adversely affect human health NEHA, 2013

Topics of HIAs: Related to EH Source: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/health-impact-project/health-impact-assessment/

Why Conduct an HIA? Identify harms and benefits before a decision is made Identify evidence-based strategies to reduce harm and enhance benefits Support inclusive and democratic decision-making and increase transparency Support community engagement and empowerment Advance health equity “Promoting Equity Through the Practice of Health Impact Assessment,” Heller, et al., 2013

Why Health and HIA? Health is widely shared social values HIA is based on an understanding that economic, environmental, and social conditions have powerful influences on population health (Terris 1968; WHO 1986; Marmot and Wilkinson 2006; WHO 2008; Graham 2010) This broad set of conditions is the most important determinants of health yet they are not subjects ordinarily addressed by health policy-makers but rather, by policymakers in sectors outside the realm of public health (WHO 2008) HIA is an opportunity to incorporate community health into your decision-making process

Empowerment and Equity The HIA process is a way to build power in communities The process engages community members in decisions will affect their health by integrating community knowledge, insights, and leadership into the decision- making processes By fostering consensus around decisions, the HIA process promotes relationships and collaborations across sectors and constituencies

Empowerment and Equity HIA adds dimension to the ways decision-makers think about policy-making, enables institutions to integrate health considerations into policy design and strengthens relationships between the public health community and institutions outside health (Bekker et al. 2004; Elliot and Francis 2004; Hays and Kitcher 2004))

Economic Reasons for HIA Evaluates the cost versus benefits of elements of the plan, policy or program Quantifies costs and benefits of health impacts Economic development/jobs are integral to many HIA topics Population health is an economic asset

HIA Supports PH Accreditation Different phases of HIA have elements that support domains in public health accreditation Domains 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 12 Example: Standard 1.2: Collect and Maintain Reliable, Comparable, and Valid Data that Provide Information on Conditions of Public Health Importance and On the Health Status of the Population: Communication Health Assessment Report (created as a result of a Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process. Documentation of online vital statistics data in the Scoping and Assessment Phases

Partnerships = Success When conducting HIAs, LHDs partner with a wide variety of other agencies both inside and outside of government These partnerships lead to other positive outcomes for communities such as: HiAP; community-based solution sets, direct citizen involvement, better informed citizens and decision makers

Have you conducted an HIA? YES? Share your experiences with NEHA! Blog posts, Success stories NO? Receive technical assistance Access resources Request on-site training

Sandra Whitehead, PhD SWhitehead@neha Sandra Whitehead, PhD SWhitehead@neha.org Patricia Cummings, PhD pcummings@hcphes.org