Health Impact Assessment : Process and Evaluation Overview

Elizabeth Hodges Snyder, PhD, MPH; Assistant Professor of Public Health;

Soil and Water Scientist; UAA Department of Health Sciences

Health Impact Assessments in AlaskaAlaska Pipeline Project Oil & Gas(Comprehensive)

Chuitna Project Coal(Comprehensive) Donlin Creek Project Gold(Comprehensive) Foothills West (Umiat) Roadway(Comprehensive) Pt. Thomson Project Oil & gas(Rapid Assessment) Pebble Prospect Gold/Copper(Comprehensive) Susitna-Watana Hydro(Comprehensive)Wishbone Hill Project Coal(Rapid Assessment)

HIA and the State of Alaska Program

First HIAs conducted in 2004 (North Slope)First HIA workshop in state in 2008

Produced HIA toolkitState program founded in DHSS in Summer 2010Identified key activities include:

Maintaining toolkitPerforming HIAsCollaborating on HIAsRefining scientific approachIdentifying best practices

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

Probability of Effect

Immediacy of Effect

• Proportion of population affected

• Application of DALYs• Acute versus chronic effects

Severity of Effect

Modifiability of Effect

Duration of Effect

Level of Community

Concern

• Physical• Economic• Sociocultural

Category of Effect

Strength of Evidence

• Positive• Negative• Neutral

Direction of Effect

Effects on Underserve

d

Association With

Climate Change(?)

• Air• Water• Soil

Natural Resource

Effect

Prioritization of Effect

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf

Evaluation of Stakeholder Engagement

Various interpretations of what an HIA can and cannot do Issues of trust Issues of confidence in the HIA processConcerns about objectivity Concerns over weight and use of local informationConcerns over the inclusion of cultural informationUnderstanding community contextParticipant selectionCommunity conflict (retribution and racism)

*Findings will be available Summer 2013

Positives of HIA in Alaska

Alaska is leading the way in the field of HIA, particularly in the area of resource development

Increasing community awareness of new policies, programs, and projects – and of their potential health impacts

Increasing community opportunities for public participation

Increased collaboration between State and Tribal entities

Positives of the HIA ProcessThe HIA process encouraged the community

to begin thinking about health in the context of resource extraction projects.

The HIA brought up several key areas for further evaluation which would likely have gone without attention had the HIA not been completed.

The HIA helped to develop a collaboration between Tribal and State entities which we hope will be further developed on future projects.

Benefits FlawsProvides systematic method of impact

assessmentTime-consuming

Estimates the cost/benefit trade-off of alternative actions

Costly

Facilitates public participation Little public participation in actual implementation

Provides an effective mechanism for • coordination• environmental integration• negotiations• feed back

Unavailability of reliable data

Top-level decision making Too focused on scientific analysis

Poor presentation of EIA report (bulky volumes, scientific explanation, difficult to understand)

Achieve a balance between the impacts of developmental and environmental concern

Compliance and impact monitoring after assessment is seldom carried out

Adapted from Harvard iSites

Resources• State HIA Program

– http://www.epi.alaska.gov/hia/ – See Alaska HIA Guidance Document

• HIA on Line One: Your Health Connection– http://feeds.kska.org/kska-lineone

• Health Impact Project– http://www.healthimpactproject.org/

• Human Impact Partners– http://www.humanimpact.org/

• UCLA Health Impact Assessment Clearinghouse– http://www.hiaguide.org/

Conferences/Associations• International Association of Impact

Assessment– http://www.iaia.org/default.aspx

– Society of Practitioners of Health Impact Assessment (SOPHIA)– http://www.hiasociety.org/