141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

289836
Foundations supporting the movement to ensure equity in the practice of health impact assessment

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

David Fukuzawa, MS , The Kresge Foundation, Troy, MI
Low-income people, communities of color, and other vulnerable populations face significant inequities in opportunity. Inequities in opportunity have been shown to lead to health inequities, along the lines of race, ethnicity, income and education levels, among other variables. If practiced appropriately, health impact assessment (HIA) can be an important tool for communities and health practitioners to advance equity and opportunity.

The Kresge Foundation, a foundation dedicated to rebuilding American cities to advance opportunity, has been supporting the advancement of equity through HIAs through a number of different investments. Kresge invested in an HIA in the Twin Cities on a proposed light rail expansion, which low-income communities of color in the rail's path had concerns about. Kresge then expanded from there to support the field of HIA practice by funding the recently published report titled, Promoting Equity through the Practice of Health Impact Assessment. The report lays out a set of principles for the inclusion of equity in HIAs, as well as clear strategies for implementing the principles.

This presentation will describe the rationale for Kresge Foundation's focus on equity in HIA, share the efforts the foundation has taken to support the field to date, as well as where the foundation sees this field developing into the future. This presentation is part of a panel submission on the inclusion of equity in HIAs that includes a description of the principles and strategies identified in the above-cited report, along with specific case studies that exemplify the practice of promoting equity through HIA.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe why foundations are interested in promoting equity through health impact assessments. Identify at least three opportunities for advancing health equity through the practice of health impact assessments. Explain the value of expanding the tools and guidance for HIA practitioners to ensure equity is incorporated robustly into the practice.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: David D. Fukuzawa, The Kresge Foundation’s program director for Health, has more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy, with a special focus on vulnerable children and youth. His experiences have taught him that health and well-being are profoundly affected by the condition of the communities, schools and environment in which people live. Those lessons inform the efforts he has led to re-envision and redesign Kresge’s approach to health grantmaking.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.