Health Impact Assessment, Municipal Development Practices, and Children's Health

Abstract

Public policies can have a considerable effect on health outcomes. All too often, however, public policy and health are debated at a national level, creating a disconnect between local politics and actionable and meaningful health outcomes. This article draws on the results of a retroactive policy Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of a new hospital siting exercise to illustrate how local municipal policies can affect the social determinants of health. It will highlight and discuss results for the health of children. These results show that children's health is differentially affected across the new host (urban sprawl) and old host (downtown) neighbourhoods. A number of adverse impacts resulting from the shift in location and related development patterns have been generated across the city. Despite the direct relevance to the health sector and the significant control local authorities had over the development processes, development decisions and existing frameworks played a central role in a less than optimal result for children's health. Means of mitigating these effects and recommendations for future development are briefly considered.

Health Impact Assessments of Health Sector Proposals: An Audit and Narrative Synthesis

“…The type of HIA conducted was dependent on the resources available e.g., rapid and desktop [ 37 , 39 , 53 ] to ensure the amount of data collected in every stage would be a point of reference in the specific levels of communication. Thirteen of the HIAs identified in this study adopted a rapid approach [ 36 , 37 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], three adopted an intermediate approach [ 35 , 41 , 43 ] and two used the comprehensive HIA approach [ 38 , 42 ]. Four of the HIAs applied a desktop and rapid approach simultaneously [ 37 , 39 , 52 , 53 ].…”

“…Thirteen of the HIAs identified in this study adopted a rapid approach [ 36 , 37 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], three adopted an intermediate approach [ 35 , 41 , 43 ] and two used the comprehensive HIA approach [ 38 , 42 ]. Four of the HIAs applied a desktop and rapid approach simultaneously [ 37 , 39 , 52 , 53 ]. Rapid and desktop HIAs are more cost-friendly and require less time to conduct.…”

Parameters of Public Policy Change

“…Yet, high quality child care is critical to healthy child development and children's readiness to learn when they begin school. Rattle (2015) talks about the planning process and how it can neglect the health impacts of such developments upon children. What do models of policy change say about moving these issues onto the public policy agenda?…”