Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is primarily concerned with the future consequences of plans, proposals and policies on the health of communities. It is a rapidly growing complement to Environmental Impact Assessment, increasingly mandated by national and international requirements. Guidelines have been produced by many national and international organizations and it is being introduced in a number of undergraduate or postgraduate university curricula. However, there has been until now no broad-based, introductory text of international scope to the subject, suitable for both these courses and for professional training. The purpose of this book is to fill this gap and to introduce the subject of Health Impact Assessment using plain language, in both general and specific contexts and with reference to both market and less developed economies. As a result, the reader should be able to describe what HIA can and cannot achieve, identify the components of a successful HIA and participate in an assessment as a member of a team. Examples are provided from a number of planning and development sectors, including extractive industry, water resource management, and housing. The reader, whether student or professional, need not be a health specialist, although prior knowledge of some public or environmental health would be an advantage.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the concepts, theory, techniques and applications of Health Impact Assessment to aid all those preparing projects or carrying out assessments. It draws on examples and thinking from many different disciplines and many parts of the world. This is the first easily accessible book, which reviews the whole field. It is likely to become the standard reference for HIA and the first place that anyone seeking to learn about the subject will turn.

The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.

This publication provides practical tools and guidance on how development projects of the Asian Development Bank can improve the health of the communities that they serve. This sourcebook provides up-to-date information regarding ADB environmental safeguards, poverty and social analysis, and compliance procedures in order to support the process of health impact assessment. It is a useful reference for ADB staff, borrowers, executing agencies, consultants, and others seeking a better understanding of how to implement health impact assessments. The publication outlines the procedures, methods, and tools that health impact assessments use to systematically judge the potential effects of a policy, plan, program, or project on the health of a population. It is useful to those who are producing a health impact assessment or public health management plan.

As global climate change proliferates, so too do the health risks associated with the changing world around us. Called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan and put together by experts from eight different Federal agencies, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: A Scientific Assessment is a comprehensive report on these evolving health risks, including: Temperature-related death and illness Air quality deterioration Impacts of extreme events on human health Vector-borne diseases Climate impacts on water-related Illness Food safety, nutrition, and distribution Mental health and well-being This report summarizes scientific data in a concise and accessible fashion for the general public, providing executive summaries, key takeaways, and full-color diagrams and charts. Learn what health risks face you and your family as a result of global climate change and start preparing now with The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health.

Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

Prevention, Policy, and Public Health provides a basic foundation for students, professionals, and researchers to be more effective in the policy arena. It offers information on the dynamics of the policymaking process, theoretical frameworks, analysis, and policy applications. It also offers coverage of advocacy and communication, the two most integral aspects of shaping policies for public health.

Globally, environmental impact assessment (EIA) is one of the most enduring and influential environmental management tools. This handbook provides readers with a strong foundation for understanding the practice of EIA, by outlining the different types of assessment while also providing a guide to best practice. This collection deploys a research and practice-based approach to the subject, delivering an overview of EIA as an essential and practical tool of environmental protection, planning, and policy. To best understand the most pertinent issues and challenges surrounding EIA today, this volume draws together prominent researchers, practitioners, and young scholars who share their work and knowledge to cover two key parts. The first part introduces EIA processes and best practices through analytical and critical chapters on the stages/elements of the EIA process and different components and forms of assessment. These provide examples that cover a wide range of assessment methods and cross-cutting issues, including cumulative effects assessment, social impact assessment, Indigenous-led assessment, risk assessment, climate change, and gender-based assessment. The second part provides jurisdictional reviews of the European Union, the US National Environmental Policy Act, recent assessment reforms in Canada, EIA in developing economies, and the EIA context in England. By providing a concise outline of the process followed by in-depth illustrations of approaches, methods and tools, and case studies, this book will be essential for students, scholars, and practitioners of environmental impact assessment.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.