Building policy capacity through a community-based health impact assessment

Health Impact Assessments (HIA) offer tangible methodologies to engage community partners in influencing health policy at the local level. HIAs have been particularly useful in low-income communities of color in addressing health disparities. HIAs also serve to link public health practitioners with other disciplines such as land use planning and transportation and help translate social justice principles into practice. Local, community-based partnerships are key participants and leaders in addressing social and health problems in their communities. Such partnerships often work to assess community health needs and problems, develop plans to address priority problems, and in the best cases, implement and evaluate programs. The mission of the New Mexico Health Equity Working Group (NMHEWG) is to promote health equity in New Mexico by reframing the predominant view of health to include and address the social determinants (social, economic and political factors) of health. The NMHEWG is comprised of a wide variety of over 100 individuals, community-based organizations, academic partners, and agencies. We report on our participatory research process designed to improve the capacity of the NMEWG to engage in policy action through a community-based HIA.