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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Shireen Malekafzali, MPHc, Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH, Cynthia Comerford, MA, Lili Farhang, MPH, Carolina Guzman, MPH, Manel Kappagoda, JD, MPH, and Maryann Sargent, MA. Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 1390 Market Street, Suite 910, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415.252.3935, shireen.malekafzali@sfdph.org

Promoting health, preventing illness, and ensuring environmental quality requires attention to urban planning and land use policy. “Healthy” urban planning must consider issues that are most important to communities being impacted by urban development practices.

In light of the potential health and social impacts of urban planning, and greater need for affected communities to be involved in development processes, the San Francisco Department of Public Health initiated the Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment (ENCHIA). ENCHIA is a multi-stakeholder, consensus-based approach to analyzing how land use policies affect those attributes of social and physical environments most important to health. The ENCHIA community council consists of diverse stakeholders from 13 public and 30 non-profit and private organizations whose interests may be affected by land use planning.

Through an 18-month long collaborative process, ENCHIA members have: 1) Envisioned the elements of a healthy community. 2) Developed a set of objectives and indicators to measure these elements. 3) Generated data on the indicators to illustrate how well San Francisco measures against the objectives. 4) Identified and researched 27 policies to create a healthier city. 5) Created a “Report Card” to evaluate development policies/projects as to whether they help to achieve health goals. 6) Supported legislation which promotes a healthier city.

Additionally, members have developed working relationships and alliances on a range of issues. The process also created greater awareness of the health impacts of land use decisions among the public and policy-makers, and has validated community experience and participation in land use planning.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

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• Recognize the potential of Community Health Impact Assessment in developing healthy land use policies. (
• Articulate the procedure for developing a Community Health Impact Assessment. (
• Examine the outcomes of a community planning process in affecting land use policies in an urban environment. (
• Recognize the utility of a Health Department in facilitating a community planning process with the Planning Department. (
• Identify upstream solutions to developing healthy land use policies.

Keywords: Community Involvement, Policy/Policy Development

Related Web page: www.sfdph.org/phes/ENCHIA.htm

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No