Examples of Completed Health Impact Assessments (HIA)

Lists of HIAs

Economic Development

  • The London Olympics HIA (2004)
    Prepared by consultant for the London Health Commission and the London Development Agency, the HIA had two parts: a desktop assessment using many existing reports and a workshop with 21 key participants (including advocates, government representatives, academic and academics). The HIA looked at construction, operation, and post games time periods and the consultant produced a 155 page report. This comprehensive report contains substantial background information, results from exercises in the workshop including some interesting voting activities, and clear recommendations.
  • A Desk-based Health Impact Assessment of the North West Regional Economic Strategy(2006)
    This report describes the potential health effects of the North West Regional Economic Strategy (RES) on the population of the U.K.’s North West, identified from the desk-based health impact assessment. HIA is concerned with improving health and reducing health inequalities. HIA can be of different depths and durations; for pragmatic reasons this HIA was undertaken as a desk-based exercise over a two-day period.
  • 2014 Commonwealth Games Health Impact Assessment Report: Planning for Legacy (2009)
    Focusing on the issue of inequality, this report proposes how to be sensitive to the diverse population of Glasgow. Conducted by Glasgow City Council, Chief Executive’s Office, Corporate Policy Health Team working in partnership with: Glasgow Centre for Population Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Public Health Resource Unit, and the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit. A attractive and readable summary is also available.

Environmental

  • Health Impact Assessment of Land Remediation Options: Site of the Former Phurnacite Factory at Abercwmboi (2003)
    The report reflects a collaborative HIA of land remediation options for the former site of a phurnacite-fuel briquette factory in Wales. The likely impacts of the processes involved on the physical and mental health of the community were examined in terms of the relevant scientific and medical literature, the history of the site and the evidence of local people.
  • Rapid HIA of Jersey Waste Disposal Plant: Stage 1 (2007) and Stage 2 (2008)
    Assesses health effects of an Energy from Waste Facility proposed for the Island of Jersey. Prepared by a team from the University of Liverpool. The stage 2 report, which focused on the distribution of health effects, contains a number of helpful tables and charts including a very clear summary of health impacts (see pages 10-11).

Health Facilities and Programs

Housing

  • Health Impact Assessment: Dove Gardens
    This report details the findings of a HIA carried out on a housing redevelopment project in Derry, England, in 2005. The report offers examples of each of the steps involved in preparing the HIA, as well as results and recommendations.
  • Housing for Health? A Screening Health Impact Assessment of the Consultation Draft of the Regional Housing Strategy (April 2007)
    The purpose of this report is to support the development of a Regional Housing Strategy (RHS). The North East Assembly, as the lead partner for the North East Regional Housing Board in the U.K. is developing an updated RHS to replace the existing strategy produced in 2005. A group of individuals with a range of skills and backgrounds, including public health and housing, screened the consultation draft of the Strategy for Potential Health and Inequality Impact in March 2007.

Planning—City and Regional

  • Arden Hills Healthy City Planning Workshop (2010)
    Focused on the proposed redevelopment of the TCAAP (Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant) site in Arden Hills, Minnesota, the Arden Hills Healthy City Planning Workshop followed a Rapid Assessment approach. The background appendices provide fairly complete documentation of all steps of the process including photographs of every exercise in the Rapid HIA.
  • Health Impact Assessment, Derby Redevelopment Area, Historic Commerce City, Colorado (2007)
    This HIA demonstrates an  imaginative use of participation and analysis tools. These range from computer mapping and proposals for street redesign to photos taken by residents and stills from a video produced by local high school students. Located in a lower income, majority Latino area of suburban Denver the HIA was conducted by the Tri-County Health Department who in turn employed short-term consultants on special topics. With a focus on physical activity and nutrition, recommendations from the 65- page report fed into a master plan.
  • The Arden Hills Healthy City Planning Workshop (2010)
    The state Department of Health, collaborating with the City of Arden Hills, sponsored this HIA on reuse of a military facility. This is one of the very few HIA reports that includes basically all the information used to run and report on the HIA workshop–the actual information packet provided to participants in advance; the agenda of the meeting, copies of handouts, worksheets, and presentations from the workshops; a series of photos keyed to parts of the agenda; and the workshop’s summary report. The summary report and appendices, along with a description of the workshop, are online.
  • Bungendore Health Impact Assessment: A Rapid Health Impact Assessment of Two Development Scenarios in Bungendore, New South Wales (May 2006)
    In this report, two growth scenarios have been evaluated that investigate the implications of future growth on the health of its residents. The first scenario examines infill development occurring within the existing boundaries of the village. The second scenario investigates the re-zoning of some agricultural land on the perimeter of Bungendore for residential and other urban purposes.
  • Health Impact Assessment: Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy Options (2006)
    This is a report on a HIA undertaken by the Canterbury District Health Board in the New Zealand. The report formally documents the rationale behind performing a HIA on the strategy, the process involved and the conclusions reached.
  • Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy and Action Plan 2007
  • Health Impact Assessment – Draft London Plan (September 2002)
    This report contains the findings of the HIA on the draft Spatial Development Strategy, widely known as the London Plan. As part of the mayor’s responsibilities, he has a statutory responsibility to develop eight strategies for London. The London Health Commission has committed to completing HIAs on all the mayoral strategies and the mayor has committed to incorporating the recommendations from the HIA before the document goes out for public consultation. Reports from the HIAs conducted on the other seven strategies can be found here.

Transportation

  • Alconbury Health Impact Assessment: Final Report (3.3 MB)
    This summary report—“From Bombs to Boom! HIA on a Former Air Base”—provides an example of a well-illustrated [insert hyphen] final HIA rapid assessment report. The proposed Alconbury airfield redevelopment was for a road and rail freight-distribution center. Initial screening for potential health impacts identified both positive and negative consequences for human health and well-being, within the population of interest.
  • Lowry Corridor Phase 2: Health Impact Assessment (2007)
    An internally conduced assessment this HIA focuses on the redevelopment of a major road in Minneapolis, the report contains several well thought-out worksheets and a number of interesting maps. It is a very accessible document.
  • Rapid Health Impact Assessment: Road Safety Unit(Safer Routes to School)(October 2001)
    This is an example of a rapid, retrospective HIA that the Westminster, England, transportation department chose to do on its Road Safety Unit (Safer Routes to School). Using the Merseyside Guidelines for Health Impact Assessment as a framework, the aim was to make a qualitative assessment of the potential health impacts of the Westminster Council’s activities relating to Road Safety Unit (Safer Routes to School) with a particular emphasis on inequalities and on local strategic partnerships.
  • Wairau/Taharoto Corridor Road Widening Project Mini Health Impact Assessment(June 2006)
    This mini–HIA focused on the future upgrade of the Wairau/Taharoto Road Corridor in New Zealand, which are among the busiest roads in the North Shore City, carrying on average 26,000 and 30,000 vehicles per day, respectively. The HIA recommendations were split into sections that reflected the organization that had the most ability to implement each recommendation. They were broken into overarching and priority concepts, and specific concepts and design considerations for the corridor.

Visually Interesting HIA’s

Those making presentations about HIAs often need to find ones that will look good when used in a presentation. The following HIAs have interesting illustrations of various types.

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