Use of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Environmental Justice Work: Lessons Learned from an HIA Evaluation in Two Chicago Neighborhoods

Background: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an increasingly common and critical tool to determine the influence on a community’s health from a policy or planning decision. We served as the external evaluator for a locally funded HIA that explored the health impact of open space redevelopment on the sites of two recently decommissioned coal generating stations in predominately low income Latino communities in Chicago.

Methods: We designed a multi level, dynamic, community-tailored process-focused evaluation strategy. Process evaluation in HIA seeks to understand how the HIA was conducted. Our primary evaluation questions were: 1) Did the HIA team authentically engage community stakeholders while conducting the HIA and 2) Did the HIA process: a) alter involvement related to site redevelopment among community stakeholders, and b) increase knowledge of and interest in conducting HIA among community and other stakeholders? With attention to culture and community dynamics, we engaged in stakeholder interviews, participant observation, archival document analysis, and key meeting analysis in order to capture the most rich description possible of the HIA process.  

Results: Our preliminary findings indicate that community engagement on the part of the HIA team was substantive, but it took patience, commitment and time. Community stakeholders felt adequately involved as partners in the HIA, contributing to the development of research questions and aiding in data collection.  

Conclusions (lessons learned): 1) External evaluators can provide valuable insights from stakeholders and decision makers, 2) External HIA evaluations are strongest when the approach is developmental, flexible and in partnership with the HIA team.