Concurrent Breakout Sessions II

Article June 29, 2015 Read time:

Projects: Health Impact

HIA 101: Monitoring and Evaluation: Current Status and Opportunities for Improvement

Overview:

This session will highlight the importance and value of monitoring and evaluation to both individual HIA efforts and to the field of practice as a whole; provide examples of model monitoring and evaluation planning efforts; discuss the successes and challenges experienced in implementing monitoring and evaluation plans; and highlight the framework developed by a SOPHIA working group, established at the 2014 HIA of the Americas Workshop, for improving the practice of monitoring and evaluation.

Presentations:

Andy Dannenberg, University of Washington

Kim Gilhuly, Human Impact Partners

Justicia Rhodus, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

HIA and Labor Policy

Overview:

This panel will consider the prospect for using HIA to inform decisions related to labor and employment policies at the local, state, and federal levels. Speakers will present case examples of HIAs conducted to inform a decision by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, wage theft in Los Angeles, and an evaluation of labor and employment HIAs across the U.S.

Moderator:

Sarah Hartsig, Kansas Health Institute

Presentations:

Sarah Hartsig, Kansas Health Institute

Tiffany McDowell, Adler School of Psychology

Fabiola Santiago, Human Impact Partners

Hee Yon Sohng, University of Washington

HIA and Community Development: Three Case Studies

Overview:

There is increased momentum to identify concrete ways for professionals working in community development and public health to operationalize cross-sector collaboration. Professionals in the fields of community development and public health are often working to improve quality of life and well-being in similar areas. While there is increasing interest in exploring ways to maximize these efforts and identify synergies between the fields, there are still few concrete examples of cross-sector collaboration. This session will present three case studies of HIAs that incorporated health in community development decision-making processes, provide a synthesis of lessons learned across the three projects, and discuss ways to apply these lessons in streamlining health considerations in future projects.

Presentations:

Barry Keppard, Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Gina Muslim, Community Solutions

Michelle Marcus Rushing, Georgia Health Policy Center

Overview of International Trade Policy and HIA

Overview:

This panel of speakers will explore the relationship between HIA international trade agreements. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about the implications of integrating human rights into HIA methodology; an HIA framework for international trade and investment rules; in addition to a conversation about how HIA can be used to inform the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

Presentations:

Fiona Haigh, University of New South Wales

Katie Hirono, University of New South Wales

Alexandra Iliescu, Public Health Agency of Canada

Use of GIS in HIA Analysis

Overview:

Many of the questions asked in an HIA are inherently spatial, making geographic information systems (GIS) a logical tool for analyzing and interpreting data to reveal geographic relationships, patterns, and trends. GIS can be used to identify spatial disparities in health outcomes, evaluate health determinants and outcomes in a geographic context, identify environmental justice communities, and even link health and environmental data. This session will provide examples from three HIA case studies.

Moderator:

Sarah Rudolf, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Presentations:

Lauren Adkins, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Dean Brennan, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives

Sarah Rudolf, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Ann Stahlheber, Cuyahoga County Board of Health (Ohio)

Tools for HIA

Overview:

Participants will engage in a discussion about three examples of tools used to support and supplement HIA activities. Presentations will include an overview of a tool used to foster community conversations about brownfields and health; a presentation on integrating ecosystem services into HIA using EnviroAtlas; and an overview of San Francisco Department of Public Health’s use of TransBASE—a database management system designed to access, manage, and apply spatial data to inform transportation decisions.

Moderator:

Bethany Rogerson, Health Impact Project

Presentations:

Natalie Brown, Minnesota Brownfields

Devan Morris, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Bethany Rogerson, Health Impact Project

Leah Yngve, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Student Health and Education: Case Studies from Three School-Related HIAs

Overview:

Education has been a growing sector for HIA. This session will feature a diverse range of presentations centered on student- and education-related decisions, including an HIA to inform the decision to provide free public transportation passes to students in Los Angeles; an HIA to inform full-day kindergarten legislation in Nevada; and an HIA conducted to inform K-12 school design and its influence on student health in Minnesota.

Moderator:

Melanie Ferris, Wilder Research

Presentations:

Melanie Ferris, Wilder Research

Max Gakh, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Lauren Gase, Los Angeles Department of Public Health

Susan Weisman, Public Health Law Center, William Mitchell College of Law

HIA and Natural Resource Extraction

Overview:

This session will explore the use of HIAs to inform decisions related to natural resources. The three speakers will share their experiences with an HIA conducted to inform county, township, municipal, and tribal decisions related to mining silica sand in western Wisconsin; an HIA conducted on an oil drilling and development project in California; and an HIA conducted to inform the unconventional natural gas development and production in Maryland.