Plenary Panel: HIA Recognition: Improving Community Health and Well-Being

Article June 29, 2015 Read time:

Projects: Health Impact

OVERVIEW

The Health Impact Project is honoring two HIA teams for improving community health and well-being. Representatives from each HIA will discuss their successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

The first HIA informed decisions about funding and implementation of the Curry County Housing Stock Upgrade Initiative Pilot in Oregon. The HIA examined the potential health impacts that upgraded housing could have on residents’ health, and recommended ways of tailoring the pilot program to meet health needs. Southern Oregon housing developer, NeighborWorks Umpqua, used the HIA findings to apply for a grant to launch the pilot program to replace 25 manufactured homes in Curry County, and was awarded a $450,000 grant from Meyer Memorial Trust. The HIA was funded by the Healthy Community Design Initiative in the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a grant administered by the Oregon Health Authority’s Health Impact Assessment Program.

The second HIA completed in collaboration with Human Impact Partners, assessed the potential health impacts of increasing the state’s budget for the Treatment Alternatives and Diversion Fund, which provides money to specialty treatment courts and criminal justice diversion programs. As a result of the HIA, there was bi-partisan support to quadruple the budget from $1 million to $4 million. With increased funding, the number of treatment alternative programs rose from seven to 34, supporting treatment for 3,100 people from 2007 to 2013.