Health Impact Assessment Blog: September 2007

30 September 2007

HIA2007 Conference in Sydney: Update 3

Earlybird Registration Deadline Extended
There has been a positive response to the call for registrations so far. The conference organisers have extended the deadline for earlybird registrations by one week to Monday 1 October 2007. You can register for the conference online at http://www.hia2007.com/registration.htm

Sponsorship from the Victorian Department of Human Services
The Victorian Department of Human Services has sponsored the HIA2007 Conference, joining the conference's principal sponsors NSW Health and the UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity.

Public Health Walking Tour of Sydney on Friday 9 November 2007
Associate Professor Peter Sainsbury from Sydney South West Area Health Service will be leading a public health themed walking tour of Sydney on the morning of Friday 9 November 2007. The walking tour will depart from the conference venue and return in time for the conference start at 9:00am. Further information on the tour will be included in future conference updates.

Professor Richard Morgan added to Conference Program
Professor Richard Morgan, Director of the Centre for Impact Assessment Research and Training at the University of Otago, New Zealand, will be delivering a conference plenary on "Linking HIA and Other Forms of Impact Assessment: Lessons and experience". The opportunity for Professor Morgan to delivery a plenary was created when Professor Hugh Barton had to withdraw from the conference.

Dining Out in Sydney After the Conference Reception on Tuesday 7 November 2007
Following the conference reception on the evening of Tuesday 7 November 2007 the conference organisers will be leading groups to several nearby Sydney restaurants for dinner. Please let the organisers know at the reception if you're interested in coming along.

Visas for International Conference Delegates
Visas may be required for delegates travelling from outside Australia for the conference. Information on visas can be obtained from http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/index.htm

Weather in Sydney
The weather in Sydney in November is usually mild with average daily minimum temperatures of 15 degrees and an average daily maximum of 23 degrees. The average monthly rainfall is 81mm, making it one of the driest months of the year. More information on Sydney's weather is available from http://www.bom.gov.au

Conference Website
For more information on the conference go to http://www.hia2007.com

29 September 2007

New HIA Book: The Politics of Healthy Policies

By Marleen Bekker

Delft – On 12 September Marleen Bekker presented her research on the relationship between Health Impact Assessment and public policy at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Public health issues, such as obesity, lung disease from air pollution or mental health complaints from living in an unsafe neighbourhood, are complex, intractable policy problems. The causes are dispersed at the individual and the collective level among different societal sectors. One strategy to integrate health in other sectors’ policies for developing effective and cooperative policy solutions is to provide evidence in a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) from proposed policies and project plans. In 15 years of practising HIA, policymakers and academics nevertheless express concern about its effectiveness.

In The Politics of Healthy Policies a conceptual and empirical analysis is presented of the role of HIA in policy development. From a governance perspective the author identifies different purposes of HIA for indicating societal problems and democratic deficits. These suggest that a technical design of HIA to assess causes and effects insufficiently addresses the political and normative issues of cooperation without institutional requirements or incentives.

Four case studies are analysed of Dutch HIA practices at the national and local policy level, including a game simulation of health advocacy without HIA. The outcomes suggest that a re-orientation on HIA is necessary in order to mobilise other sectors to prevent or mitigate public health problems. Marleen Bekker proposes an interaction-oriented, reflective design and a new definition of HIA. The book is especially relevant to HIA practitioners and health policymakers at different governmental levels. Many of the implications are highly relevant to other forms of impact assessment as well.

Marleen Bekker is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Health Policy and Management at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

26 September 2007

Health Impact Assessment in Urban Settings - Special Issue of NSW Public Health Bulletin

14 September 2007

Predicting a community's health and wellbeing, a game of 10 questions?

I was at a conference on planning and health a few months back. At the time the Conference Chair made a really interesting statement. He said "Show me any community anywhere in the world and I will tell you what their health is like. We know enough about public health to be able to do that."

At the time, without a second's hesitation, I nodded vigorously in agreement.

But now its got me thinking, if that's true then what are the key questions we would need to ask and have answered about a community to be able to predict its overall health and wellbeing?

Over the last few months I've been thinking and below are the ten key questions we would need to ask and why:

1. The income distribution within a community. The less the income differential between individuals within a community, above a certain minimum threshold, the better the health of a community overall.

2. The education distribution within a community. The greater the literacy and educational attainment within a community and the more equally/widely distributed that attainment the better the health of a community overall.

3. Availability and distribution of essential utilities - water, heat, light, waste disposal. The wider and better the availability and distribution of essential the better the health of a community overall.

4. Availability, accessibility and distribution of key amenities - food and retail shops, culture and leisure facilities, transportation, heath and social care, etc. The wider and better the availability, accessibility and distribution of key amenities the better the health of a community overall.

5. Availability, distribution and quality of shelter. The wider and better the availability, distribution and quality of shelter the better the health of a community overall.

6. Quality of the built environment - cleanliness, crime and safety, etc. the better the quality of the built environment the better the health of a community overall.

7. Availability, accessibility, distribution and quality of the natural environment and greenspace. The wider and better the availability, accessibility, distribution and quality of greenspace the better the health of a community overall.

8. Availability, accessibility, distribution and quality of employment. The wider and better the availability, accessibility, distribution and quality of employment the better the health of a community overall.

9. Availability, accessibility, distribution and quality of democratic and stable governance. The wider and better the availability, accessibility and distribution the better the health of a community overall.

10. The distribution, quality and richness of social networks and connections. The wider and better the distribution, quality and richness social networks and connections the better the health of a community overall.

Can you do better? What would your ten questions be? Should we replace one or more of the above key questions with others? Or do you have more that I should add on?

Plus, we haven't defined my terms, what do we mean by better? or democracy or social networks and connections? I'll leave that for you to work on!

5 September 2007

New Zealand Ministry of Health HIA Advisor Position

The NZ Ministry of Health has advertised for a position for an advisor/senior advisor to join the Ministry's newly established Health Impact Assessment Suport Unit:

Advisor/Senior Advisor

Office of the Director of Public Health

This is an opportunity to join the Ministry of Health’s newly established Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Support Unit and make an important contribution to improving health and reducing health inequalities in New Zealand.

HIA has been identified as one of the key methods available to strengthen action for health across all sectors at a policy and project level.

You will be a suitably qualified advisor/senior advisor who, as part of the Unit, will be responsible for promoting and supporting the use of HIA across central and local government. You will have a degree or diploma in a relevant field, e.g. public policy, public health, resource management and a sound and practical knowledge of HIA. You will also have excellent communication skills and a proven record of building relations with people at all levels of the organisation.

This is a full time Fixed term/Secondment (two years) position located in Wellington. The closing date for applications is Friday 28 September 2007.

The Ministry of Health has a commitment to Equal Employment opportunities.

For more information and to apply, please contact Paula Hawley-Evans on (04) 816 2837 or Frances Graham on (04) 816 2672. Copies of the job profile and application form are available on the Ministry's website http://www.moh.govt.nz/vacancies.

1 September 2007

New Centre for Health Impact Assessment is launched!

The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), based in the UK, has set up a new Centre for Health Impact Assessment (CHIA) to take forward its work on environmental and occupational health and wellbeing.

The vision of CHIA is to be an international Centre of Excellence for:
1. HIA theory and practice
2. Evidence-based analysis of the impacts of policies and programmes on health
3. Understanding the wider determinants of health and wellbeing
4. Healthy urban planning and development
5. Tackling environmental and health inequalities

For more information on the work of the Centre and opportunities for collaborative working please contact:

Dr Salim Vohra MBChB MSc PhD
Director
Centre for Health Impact Assessment
Institute of Occupational Medicine
Research House Business Centre
Fraser Road
Perivale
Middlesex
UB6 7AQ

Mob: +44 (0)7 980 728 814
Tel: +44 (0) 208 537 3491/2
Fax: +44 (0) 208 537 3493
Email: salim.vohra@iom-world.org
Web: www.iom-world.org