About
This site
hia.communitycommons.org is a Community Commons Space–a content library powered by the Community Commons Knowledgebase and hosted by the Institute for People, Place, and Possibility (IP3).
This site aims to support communities, agencies, and other organizations in taking action to improve population health. This site houses hundreds of resources to help users consider health, well-being, and equity in all policies and investments, and make good decisions regarding matters that impact people’s health. It includes:
- ~400 HIAs that are searchable and filterable by criteria and geographic location
- Hundreds of guides, search, reports, and datasets for the field
- General information about HIAs and a learning series
- And links to discover so much more on Community Commons!
Contents of this site first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health, which was originally developed by the Health Impact Project—a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew). Learn More
What is an HIA?
Health impact assessment (HIA) is a structured, yet flexible process that brings together evidence/data, public health expertise, and stakeholder input to identify the potential health effects of a proposed policy, plan, or investment, as well as how those impacts might disproportionately affect different racial, income, geographic, and other population groups. HIAs often provide recommendations for minimizing risks and capitalizing on opportunities to improve health with regard to the policy, plan or investment at hand.
Using this site
This site was designed for communities, government agencies, and others who practice and use HIAs.
HIAs are usually conducted to evaluate the potential effects of a specific plan, project, or policy before it is built or implemented and provide practical recommendations to increase positive health effects and minimize negative health effects. However, HIA results are often applicable to a broad array of policies, programs, plans, and projects. Conducting a formal HIA can be costly; when possible, it’s helpful to research HIAs already done by others and to glean key takeaways from their work and research. This Space simplifies the process of researching existing HIAs, so policymakers and community organizers can maximize resources by building on others’ work and move more quickly into implementation.
Support for this site
The creation of this Space was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, encourages local, state, and national organizations to include health considerations in policy decisions across multiple sectors, such as housing, transportation, and education. Research shows that the conditions in which people live, learn, work, and play influence their health, so the project also works to create cross-sector partnerships that include the expertise of health care and public health systems.
Suggest Content
Help us grow the Health Impact Assessment content library. Suggest a health impact assessment, or another resource for inclusion. Complete the form below and our team will review your submission.