Online Program

Oral

As attention to addressing social determinants of health continues to grow, it is important to examine efforts that promote health equity beyond the level of the individual or small group. One such approach is Health Impact Assessment (HIA).. HIA is a process that helps evaluate the potential health effects of a program or policy before it is developed or implemented which helps communities make informed choices about improving public health; choices that are especially important for a community’s most vulnerable populations. An HIA can provide guidance and recommendations to achieve optimal health outcomes from policies outside of public health. HIA is an iterative six-step process that employs data from multiple sources and uses various methods to understand the public health implications of developing or implementing a particular program or policy. Stakeholders are engaged and contribute to all stages of the HIA. In this session, and in keeping with the “Health in All Policies” theme of this year’s meeting, members of the editorial team and contributors to the American Journal of Public Health will explain the value of an HIA and describe the steps involved in conducting an HIA from a multi-disciplinary perspective with a specific focus on using the process for evaluating the impact of public health policy.