Evaluation of Health Impact Assessment Training and Capacity-building in the United States

To date, a variety of activities have been used to develop Health Impact Assessment (HIA) capacity. In the U.S., over 500 people were trained in 22 courses run by the CDC since 2006. An additional 500 people have been trained by organizations such as the San Francisco Department of Health and Human Impact Partners, as well at least a half dozen universities sponsoring graduate-level courses. Few of these HIA trainings have been evaluated to assess long-term outcomes. Meanwhile, many new practitioners are continuing to enter the field of HIA. We conducted nearly 50 semi-structured interviews among a sample of HIA trainees and practitioners throughout the U.S.. The interviews probed on the trainee's background, pre-training motivation and propensity, the effectiveness of the training, and post-training transfer and workplace implementation. Results show a great diversity among the trainees, ranging from inexperienced but interested to seasoned professionals and area experts. Some work in progressive, well-resourced organizations, while most others do not. Trainees often have a very real issue for which they plan to use HIA. Though the majority of trainees work in public health, an increasing number come from other agencies such as planning and transportation. Though not always immediately applicable, in general trainees used the knowledge and skills acquired to disseminate the HIA framework to colleagues and partners. Moving forward, trainees and practitioners need assistance with quantitative methods, project management, writing and framing recommendations, and evaluating HIA effectiveness. Further such evaluation of capacity-building is needed, given the rapid growth of this field.