Health impact asessment, land-use projects, and community participation in California

In this presentation, we discuss the processes and outcomes of four health impact assessments (HIAs) conducted by Human Impact Partners in 2007 and 2008 in California. The four HIAs considered the health impacts of the following projects: 1) the proposed alternatives for the 5,000-acre Concord Naval Weapons Station Reuse Project in Concord; 2) a low-income housing development in South Los Angeles; 3) a Specific Plan for a transit-oriented development in Pittsburg; and 4) selection of sites for low-income housing in El Cerrito and Richmond. These four HIA projects evaluated the potential health impacts of land-use projects in a holistic manner, covering housing, jobs, education, transportation, air quality, noise, parks and open spaces, as well as retail and private/public services. They represent various ways in which HIAs can be used to help communities improve the built-environment and related health-outcomes. Based on the HIA findings, health-promoting policy and design recommendations were formulated to mitigate potential negative health impacts. Using these projects as case studies, we will discuss how HIA practitioners collaborated with community residents and advocates to evaluate potential health impacts and use the HIA findings to cultivate and foster strategic alliances with other project stakeholders. Ultimately, whether HIA findings can be used to effect community-level or wider-reaching policy change depends upon the participation of stakeholders willing to assume leadership in promoting such changes. Often these stakeholders are community residents and members of community-based organizations.