Towards Environmental Health Equity in Health Impact Assessment: Innovations and Opportunities

Overview

Journal Int J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2018 Jun 19

PMID 29911285

Citations 12

Authors

Chris G Buse

Valerie Lai

Katie Cornish

Margot W Parkes

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: As global environmental change drives inequitable health outcomes, novel health equity assessment methodologies are increasingly required. We review literatures on equity-focused HIA to clarify how equity is informing HIA practice, and to surface innovations for assessing health equity in relation to a range of exposures across geographic and temporal scales.

Methods: A narrative review of the health equity and HIA literatures analysed English articles published between 2003 and 2017 across PubMed, PubMed Central, Biomed Central and Ovid Medline. Title and abstract reviews of 849 search results yielded 89 articles receiving full text review.

Results: Considerations of equity in HIA increased over the last 5 years, but equity continues to be conflated with health disparities rather than their root causes (i.e. inequities). Lessons from six literatures to inform future HIA practice are described: HIA for healthy cities, climate change vulnerability assessment, cumulative health risk assessment, intersectionality-based policy analysis, corporate health impact assessment and global health impact assessment.

Conclusions: Academic reporting on incorporating equity in HIA practice has been limited. Nonetheless, significant methodological advancements are being made to examine the health equity implications of multiple environmental exposures.

Citing Articles

Can health impact assessment help tackle commercial determinants of health and support a wellbeing economy?.

Douglas M, Foster C, McDermott R, Bunse L, Clemens T, Walker J Health Promot Int. 2024; 39(6).

PMID: 39569483 PMC: 11579598. DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daae135.

Evaluating Racial/Ethnic Equity in Planning-Related U.S. Health Impact Assessments Involving Parks and Greenspaces: A Review.

Besser L, Bean C, Foor A, Hoermann S, Renne J J Am Plann Assoc. 2023; 89(4):472-486.

PMID: 38075559 PMC: 10706852. DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2022.2096100.

Is Suicide a Water Justice Issue? Investigating Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories and Suicide in First Nations in Canada.

Ansloos J, Cooper A Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023; 20(5).

PMID: 36901055 PMC: 10002052. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054045.

Patient- and Community-Oriented Primary Care Approaches for Health in Rural, Remote and Resource-Dependent Places: Insights for Eco-Social Praxis.

Buse C, Allison S, Cole D, Fumerton R, Parkes M, Woollard R Front Public Health. 2022; 10:867397.

PMID: 35692331 PMC: 9178183. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.867397.

Methods for Evaluating Environmental Health Impacts at Different Stages of the Policy Process in Cities.

Benavides J, Rowland S, Shearston J, Nunez Y, Jack D, Kioumourtzoglou M Curr Environ Health Rep. 2022; 9(2):183-195.

PMID: 35389203 PMC: 8986968. DOI: 10.1007/s40572-022-00349-5.

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