Challenges of community partnership in HIA: A qualitative comparison of experiences from community organizers and HIA conductors

background: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an increasingly common tool used to determine the impact a policy change will have on the health of a community.  Though HIA is founded in democracy and equity, effective community engagement is challenging for those who conduct HIA.  The present work explores the experiences of conductors of HIA as well as of the primary community partners as they relate to engagement in a HIA in two Latino neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois.

methods: Our analysis is based on secondary data from an external HIA evaluation.  Data includes a total of 18 in-depth interviews with both the HIA conductors and their community partners in three interview waves over the span of 10 months.  The data were analyzed using grounded theory to draw out salient themes from their experiences of the HIA process.

results: Our preliminary findings indicate that engagement and partnership are extremely difficult goals to undertake, particularly in the inherent context of inequality between the institution conducting the HIA and the community partners.  

conclusions: Ideally, partnerships for a HIA should rely on preexisting relationships with relevant stakeholders.  In the absence of preexisting relationships, candid discussions around power and positionality before the HIA begins are necessary to build trust and cohesion. Early conversations regarding goals for the partnership need to include considerations of capacity, funds, and communication expectations for all project partners.