Implementing a sustainable HIA practice: The role of training, technical assistance, and mentoring

The field of health impact assessment (HIA) is rapidly growing, and organizations, academic institutions, and public agencies have consistently sought technical assistance to build their capacity and sustain their commitment to HIA over the long-term. HIA is not a one size fits all approach however, and different types of organizations have a range of capacities and competing interests that must be acknowledged at the outset of building an HIA program. In this context, Human Impact Partners' mission is to build the capacity of others around the country to consider health in decision-making processes through the use of HIA. Currently, HIP is the only organization in the United States focused on capacity-building for HIAs – offering policymakers, public agencies, community and advocacy organizations the support they need to conduct HIAs and use the results to make change. In this panel session, presenters, who have all been HIP partners on various HIA-related projects, describe specific examples of HIA practice within their organizations. This presentation will specifically discuss the training, technical assistance, and mentoring (TMTA) support HIP provided to these organizations and discuss how TMTA support was tailored to reflect funding, staffing, and organizational realities. Our goal is to highlight how external HIA support can be leveraged to implement and sustain a realistic HIA practice, and to discuss the common pitfalls organizations face. We will also report results of our TMTA evaluation surveys and tracking; highlighting the core competencies that must be in place before considering institutionalizing HIA within an agency or organization.