Inventory I

I. OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD OF HIA

Health impact assessment (HIA) was first developed along the fringes of environmental impact assessments (EIA) as a way to integrate human health concerns into the environmental impact assessments of major development projects.

Over the past dozen years, the context in which HIA is practiced has broadened. It now extends beyond development projects and the environmental sector. This movement is based on a broad, social definition of health. It is concerned, notably, with the socioeconomic determinants of health and with the participation of the population affected by the proposal being examined. It is, thus, within this movement that the application of HIA to public policy can be situated. Although its use so far has been modest, this practice is usually linked to the field of healthy public policy and, consequently, represents a means of making health a concern for all policy sectors, as proposed in the WHO’s Adelaide Declaration.

SOME REFERENCES

Brief overview of HIA

Quigley, R., L. den Broeder, P. Furu, A. Bond, B. Cave and R. Bos. (2006). Health Impact Assessment: International Best Practice Principles. Special Publication Series No. 5. Fargo, USA, International Association for Impact Assessment, 4 pp. On line: http://www.iaia.org/modx/assets/files/SP5.pdf [Consulted 06-05-2008].

Barnes, R. and A. Scott-Samuel. (2000). Health Impact Assessment: A ten minute guide, 4 pp. On line: http://www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/documents/committees/healthy_region_forum/2001/200601/Agenda_item_6.PDF [Consulted 06-06-2008].

Glossary

Mindell, J., E. Ison and M. Joffe. (2003). “A glossary for health impact assessment.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57(9), 647-651. doi: 10.1136/jech.57.9.647

Methodological foundations (procedure)

Scott-Samuel, A., M. Birley, and K. Ardern. (2001). The Merseyside Guidelines for Health Impact Assessment. 2^nd edition. Liverpool, Merseyside Health Impact Assessment Steering Group, 20 pp. On line: http://www.liv.ac.uk/ihia/IMPACT%20Reports/2001_merseyside_guidelines_31.pdf [Consulted 04-06-2008].

WHO European Centre for Health Policy (1999). Health Impact Assessment: main concepts and suggested approach. The Gothenburg Consensus paper. Brussels, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 11 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/document/PAE/Gothenburgpaper.pdf [Consulted 07-05-2008].

For the French version of the Gothenburg consensus, see:

Association internationale pour la promotion de la santé et le développement durable (S2D) (2005). Étude d’impact sur la santé : Principaux concepts et méthode proposée. Traduction française du Consensus de Göteborg. Rennes, France, S2D/Centre Collaborateur de l’OMS pour les Villes-Santé francophones, 15 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/document/pae/gothenburgpaperf.pdf [Consulted 07-05-2008].

Guides and tools

The NCCHPP identified more than 50 HIA guides and tools through the main websites on this subject: the summary document is available on the Centre’s website (http://www.ncchpp.ca). The following selection is intended as a sample of the variety of guides available.

Harris, P., B. Harris-Roxas, E. Harris, and L. Kemp. (2007). Health Impact Assessment: A Practical Guide. Sydney, Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation (CHETRE). Part of the UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW, 43 pp. On line: http://www.hiaconnect.edu.au/files/Health_Impact_Assessment_A_Practical_Guide.pdf [Consulted 07-05-2008].

Public Health Advisory Committee (2005). A Guide to Health Impact Assessment: A Policy Tool for New Zealand. 2^ndedition, Wellington, 81 pp. On line: http://www.phac.health.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/phac-guide-hia-2nd [Consulted 07-05-2008].

WHO Centre for Urban Health (2005). Health Impact Assessment Toolkit for Cities: Vision to Action. Document 1. Background document: concepts, processes, methods. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 43 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/Document/Hcp/HIA_toolkit_1.pdf [Consulted 07-05-2008].

The PATH Network (2002). PATHways II: The Next Steps – A Guide to Community Health Impact Assessment. Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, 42 pp. On line: http://www.antigonishwomenscentre.com/pdfs/PATHways%20II%20manual.pdf [Consulted 07-05-2008].

BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC OF HIA

Keywords

Database and search engine searches are most often carried out in English. The expression “Health impact assessment” is the main keyword used to locate texts on this subject. A few additional results may sometimes be attached to the expression “health impact assessments” (typing the plural of assessment); whereas using the plural form of impact does not generally turn up any new results.

Databases and search engines

The research tools covering documentation on health and environmental sciences appear to be the richest reference sources for texts on HIA.

Current Content: Covers documentation from the last 52 weeks in all major areas of knowledge.
MEDLINE (by NCBI [PubMed]): Covers, essentially, biomedical documentation.
Academic Search Premier: Covers all major areas of knowledge.
EMBASE.com: Covers biomedical documentation.
BIOSIS Previews: Covers the biological sciences.
PsycINFO: Covers all branches of psychology.
CINAHL: Covers, essentially, the fields of nursing and paramedical professions.
CAB Abstracts: Covers the biological sciences.
Google Scholar: Covers various subject areas.

Note: Some are critical of Google Scholar*, particularly because of the non-transparency of its research and the classification of its results. Google Scholar thus seems more useful for following developments in the HIA field than for carrying out a systematic and exhaustive review of the literature. (* See, for example: Jascó, P. (2008). “Google Scholar revisited.” Online Information Review, 32(1): 102-114.)

Coverage of scientific journals varies according to database or search engine. Coverage is also subject to change. Consequently, depending on the goal of the documentation review, using some combination of databases and search engines may be advisable.

Note that some databases and search engines offer the possibility of registering to receive updates.

Scientific periodicals

Articles on HIA were located in over 30 different periodicals essentially covering health (public health, health promotion, community health, preventive medicine), environmental sciences and, to a lesser degree, political science.

Main scientific periodicals

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Public Health
Environmental Impact Assessment Review
Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Currently, among the databases and search engines mentioned above, only Current Content and Google Scholar cover these four main periodicals.

Special issues on HIA

Les politiques publiques et l’évaluation d’impact sur la santé (2008), Télescope, 14(2).
Health Impact Assessment in Urban Settings (2007). New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 18(9-10).
[Health Impact Assessment in Switzerland] (2006). Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, 51(3).
[Health Impact Assessment] (2005). New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 16(7-8).
Health Impact Assessment (2004). Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 24(2).
Health Impact Assessment (2003). Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 81(6).

Books/Monographs

This list of books and monographs covers the period between 1995 and the present (last updated in August 2008) and is presented in inverse chronological order.

Wismar, M., J. Blau, K. Ernst, and J. Figueras. (Eds.) (2007). The Effectiveness of Health Impact Assessment: Scope and limitations of supporting decision-making in Europe. Copenhagen, World Health Organization (on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies), 321 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/document/E90794.pdf [Consulted 02-07-2008].

Bekker, M. P. M. (2007). The politics of healthy policies. Redesigning Health Impact Assessment to integrate health in public policy. Delft: Eburon.

Ståhl, T., M. Wismar, E. Ollila, E. Lahtinen, and K. Leppo. (Eds.) (2006). Health in All Policies: Prospects and Potentials. Helsinki, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 299 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/document/E89260.pdf [Consulted 11-06-2008].

Kemm, J., J. Parry and S. Palmer. (Eds.) (2004). Health Impact Assessment: Concepts, theory, techniques, and applications. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Mahoney, M. and G. Durham. (2002). Health Impact Assessment: a tool for policy development in Australia. Melbourne, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Deakin University, 139 pp. On line: http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/hia/publications/HIA_Final_Report_2003.pdf [Consulted 06-06-2008].

Banken, R. (2001). Strategies for institutionalizing HIA. Health Impact Assessment Discussion papers, Number 1. Brussels; WHO European Center for Health Policy, 43 pp. On line: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e75552.pdf [Consulted 06-05-2008].

Department of Health (1999). Health Impact Assessment: Report of a methodological Seminar, London, 84 pp. On line: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4005493 [Consulted 27-06-2008].

Birley, M. H., A. Boland, L. Davies, R. T. Edwards, H. Glanville, E. Ison, E. Millstone, D. Osbord, A. Scott-Samuel, and J. Treweek. (1998). Health and Environmental Impact Assessment: an Integrated Approach. London, Earthscan/British Medical Association.

Frankish, C. J., L. W. Green, P. A. Ratner, T. Chomik, and C. Larsen. (1996). Health Impact Assessment as a Tool for Population Health Promotion and Public Policy. A Report Submitted to the Health Promotion Development Division of Health Canada. Institute of Health Promotion Research, University of British Columbia. On line: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/phdd/impact/index.html#Executive [Consulted 10-06-2008].

ORGANIZATIONS INTERESTED IN HIA

The NCCHPP has identified many organizations interested in HIA throughout the world. These have been classified by type and location or by the region they cover. Only the main organizations, with a website in French (FR) or in English (EN), are listed below.

International associations and organizations

International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA)

http://www.iaia.org/ (EN)

World Health Organization

http://www.who.int/hia/en/ (EN)

World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

http://www.euro.who.int/healthy-cities/UHT/20050201_10 (EN)

Research centres or groups

International

International Health Impact Assessment Consortium (IMPACT)

University of Liverpool, Division of Public Health

http://www.liv.ac.uk/ihia/ (EN)

North America

Canada (Quebec)

Groupe d’étude sur les politiques publiques et la santé (GÉPPS)

http://www.gepps.enap.ca/fr/nouvelles.aspx?sortcode=1.15.22 (FR)

United States

UC Berkeley Health Impact Group

UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences

http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/hia/ (EN)

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) project

UCLA School of Public Health

http://www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/health-impact/ (EN)

Design for Health

(collaboration between the University of Minnesota, Cornell University and the University of Colorado)

http://designforhealth.net/techassistance/healthimpact.html (EN)

Europe

Finland

National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES)

(Human Impact Assessment [HuIA])

http://info.stakes.fi/iva/EN/index.htm (EN)

Wales

Welsh Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU)

Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences, Cardiff Institute of Society, Health and Ethics

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/home.cfm?OrgID=522 (EN)

Oceania

Australia

Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) – HIA Connect

University of New South Wales (UNSW), School of Public Health & Community Medicine

http://www.hiaconnect.edu.au/ (EN)

Deakin University HIA Research Unit

Deakin University, Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences

http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/hia/index.php (EN)

SHIA@Monash

Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/healthsci/shia-monash/index.html (EN)

WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health Impact Assessment

Curtin University of Technology, Division of Health Sciences

http://www.ehia.curtin.edu.au/ (EN)

New Zealand

Health, Wellbeing & Equity Impact Assessment Unit

University of Otago, Department of Public Health

http://www.wnmeds.ac.nz/academic/dph/research/hia/index.html (EN)

Public organizations

North America

Canada

Centre de collaboration nationale sur les politiques publiques et la santé (CCNPPS)/National Collaborating Centre for Health Public Policy (NCCHPP)

http://www.ccnpps.ca/ (FR)

http://www.ccnpps.ca/2/Home.htm (EN)

Santé Canada/Health Canada

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/eval/index-fra.php (FR)

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/eval/index-eng.php (EN)

Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) – Portail politiques publiques et santé/Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) – Public Policy and Health Portal

http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/ (FR)

http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/en/index.html (EN)

United States

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/hia.htm (EN)

National Association County & City Health Officials (NACCHO)

http://www.naccho.org/topics/hpdp/land_use_planning/LUP_Toolbox.cfm (EN)

San Francisco Department of Public Health

(Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment [ENCHIA])

http://dphwww.sfdph.org/phes/ENCHIA.htm (EN) Europe

England

Department of Health

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Legislation/Healthassessment/index.htm (EN)

London Health Commission (HIA)

http://www.londonshealth.gov.uk/hia.htm#Top (EN)

Scotland

Scottish Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Network

NHS Health Scotland

http://www.healthscotland.com/resources/networks/shian.aspx (EN)

NHS Lothian

http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/hia/index.html (EN)

Ireland

Institute of Public Health (IPH)

http://www.publichealth.ie/hia (EN)

Netherlands

Health Impact Assessment Database

National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)

https://webcollect.rivm.nl/hiadatabase/ (EN)

Switzerland

Plateforme sur l’Évaluation d’Impact sur la Santé

http://www.impactsante.ch/spip/ (FR)

Oceania

Australia

New South Wales Health

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/environment/general/hia.asp (EN)

Government of Western Australia, Department of Health

http://www.health.wa.gov.au/envirohealth/planning/hia.cfm (EN) New Zealand

Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC)

National Health Committee

http://www.phac.health.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/phac-hia (EN)

New Zealand Health Impact Assessment Support Unit

Ministry of Health, Office of the Director of Public Health

http://www.moh.govt.nz/hiasupportunit (EN)

Observatories

Europe

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

http://www.euro.who.int/observatory/Studies/20040310_1 (EN)

United Kingdom and Ireland

Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) – HIA Gateway

http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=P_HIA (EN)

England

London Health Observatory

http://www.lho.org.uk/HIA/AboutHIA.aspx (EN)

Consultants

North America

Canada*

Habitat Health Impact Consulting Corp.

http://habitatcorp.com/ (EN)

Robert Rattle Research and Consulting Services

http://web.ncf.ca/at758/ (EN)

United States

Human Impact Partner

http://www.humanimpact.org/ (EN)

* This list is not exhaustive and will be updated regularly

Europe

England

Ben Cave Associates

http://www.bcahealth.co.uk/ (EN)

Birley HIA – Health Impact Associates

http://www.birleyhia.co.uk/ (EN)

Centre for Health Impact Assessment

Institute of Occupational Medicine

http://www.iom-world.org/consulting/healthrisk.php (EN)

Inukshuk Consultancy

http://inukshukconsultancy.com/ (EN)

Peter Brett Associates

http://www.pba.co.uk/SectorServices/Services/HealthImpactAssessment/tabid/330/Default.aspx (EN)

EXAMPLES OF COMPLETED HIAs

Completed health impact assessments are usually the subject of a report that may (or may not) be available on the internet. Scientific articles also report on cases of HIA.

examples of subject areas

Below are examples of several fields producing policies, programs and projects for which HIAs have been carried out in the past. The hyperlinks allow for consultation of one or several examples of reports or other publications for each subject area listed.

Urban and regional planning

Inventory of completed HIAs

Several organizations report cases of completed HIAs on their websites. The following selection presents the sites referencing the most cases first, and these are organized according to the origin of the majority of the studies referenced. The links provided are for either (FR) or English (EN) sources.

HIA throughout the world

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/hia/examples/en/ (EN)

HIA in North America (United states)

§ Health Impact Assessment (HIA) project:

HIAs carried out in the United States between 1999 and 2007: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/health-impact/docs/HIA_archive.pdf (EN)

HIA in Europe

§ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies:

Results of a research project aimed at mapping the use of HIA in Europe, at evaluating its effectiveness and at establishing the determining factors for successful implementation: http://www.euro.who.int/observatory/Studies/20050713_1 (EN)

Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) – HIA Gateway: http://www.apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx?RID=44577 (EN)
International Health Impact Assessment Consortium (IMPACT): http://www.liv.ac.uk/ihia/IMPACT_HIA_Reports.htm (EN)

§ Welsh Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU): http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=522&pid=10108 (EN)

List of HIAs completed in Wales since 1997: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=522&pid=10105 (EN)

Health Impact Assessment Database (RIMV): https://webcollect.rivm.nl/hiadatabase/ (EN)
NHS Lothian (Scotland): http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/hia/hia_05.html (EN)

§ National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES):

Human Impact Assessment (HuIA; Finland): http://info.stakes.fi/iva/EN/examples/index.htm

Plateforme sur l’Évaluation d’Impact sur la Santé (Switzerland): http://www.impactsante.ch/spip/article.php3?id_article=37 (FR)
London Health Commission: http://www.londonshealth.gov.uk/allpubs.htm#HIA (EN)
Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH): http://www.publichealth.ie/ireland/completedhias (EN)
Design for Health: http://designforhealth.net/techassistance/hiaexamples.html (EN)

HIA in Oceania (Australia/New Zealand)

Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (CPHCE) – HIA Connect: http://www.hiaconnect.edu.au/completed_hia.htm (EN)

§ Deakin University HIA Research Unit:

List of research projects: http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/hia/research.php (EN)

New Zealand Health Impact Assessment Support Unit: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/hiasupportunit-casestudies (EN)

TRAINING IN HIA

Training programs, workshops and university courses

Only those organizations that regularly offer training in HIA (or those that have announced 2008 training dates on their websites) are mentioned. The links provided are for either (FR) or English (EN) sources.

North America

United States

UC Berkeley Health Impact Group

UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences

http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/hia/education/education.htm (EN)

o University courses only

Europe

England

International Health Impact Assessment Consortium (IMPACT)

University of Liverpool, Division of Public Health

http://www.liv.ac.uk/ihia/training.htm (EN)

Ireland

Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH)

http://www.publichealth.ie/ireland/hiatraining (EN)

Oceania

Australia

Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (CPHCE)

University of New South Wales (UNSW), Faculty of Medicine

http://www.hiaconnect.edu.au/hia_training.php (EN)

Deakin University HIA Research Unit

Deakin University, Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences

http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/hia/shortcourse.php (EN)

http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/hia/training.php (EN)

New Zealand

New Zealand Health Impact Assessment Support Unit

Ministry of Health, Office of the Director of Public Health

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/hiasupportunit-training

Manuals or training modules (available on line)

§ Health Impact Assessment in Practice (six modules and eLearning Workbook, 2008)

Virtual learning environment provided by NHS Health Scotland

http://elearning.healthscotland.com/course/view.php?id=5 (EN)

§ Health Impact Assessment Toolkit for Cities. Document 2. Training Module (42 pp., 2005)

World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

http://www.euro.who.int/Document/Hcp/HIA_toolkit_2.pdf (EN)

§ Health opportunities in development (two volumes and a CD-ROM; 2003)

Bos, R., Birley, M., Furu, P. & Engel, C.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/hod/en/ (EN)

Health Impact Assessment (Supercourse; 2002)

Gulis, G.

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec6631/index.htm (EN)

§ Évaluation d’impact sur la santé/Health Impact Assessment

Centre collaborateur OMS-OPS pour l’évaluation et la surveillance des impacts sur la santé de l’environnement et du milieu de travail/WHO-PAHO Collaborating Center on Environmental and Occupational Health Impact Assessment and Surveillance

http://machaon.fmed.ulaval.ca/medecine/hia/home.asp (FR/EN)

INTERNET RESOURCES

The website addresses of the main organizations interested in HIA have already been listed above. Other internet resources are suggested below, including, in particular, electronic newsletters, distribution lists (listservs) and a blog. The links provided are for either (FR) or English (EN) sources.