The public can play an important part in planning processes that address the link between health and the built environment. Public involvement in planning processes is widely recognized for its ability to build support for plan implementation and create a shared understanding of planning problems and solutions. There are numerous opportunities to engage the public in these types of planning processes, as well as in the use of the Design for Health (DFH) Health Impact Assessment (HIA) tools.
How can the public participate in planning for health? Which DFH tools can be used in participation processes or modified for such use? This fact sheet deals with these two issues in turn.
Additional Resources
- Participation Compass
A terrific resource with a useful process planner linked to a quite lengthy list of participation methods. It is not specifically focused on health but many of the techniques are transferable. You need to register to use a number of features but it is free. - Community Planning.net
Another great resource, this one more design-oriented. I particularly like the methods list at http://www.communityplanning.net/methods/methods.php.