Fellow represents WI at Inaugural National Health Impact Assessment Meeting

Marjory Givens (former Fellow) and Paula Tran Inzeo representing Wisconsin at the Inaugural Health Impact Assessment meeting in Washington, DC

Fellow Paula Tran Inzeo and Marjory Givens (former fellow) represented Wisconsin at the Inaugural National Health Impact Assessment Meeting in Washington, DC the first week of April. The meeting, hosted by the Health Impact Project (a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, capitalized on the burgeoning national interest in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and convened policy makers, public health professionals, HIA practitioners and anyone with an interest in learning more about HIA. Paula and Marjory have been actively working on building capacity of practitioners in Wisconsin to conduct HIAs and played a large role in a recent demonstration grant awarded to the UW Population Health Institute to conduct an HIA on Transitional Jobs Programs. The grant, awarded by the National Network of Public Health Institutes and the Health Impact Project, is one of two that is a part of a broad initiative,  Increasing the National Capacity for HIAs: Utilizing the Nation's Public Health Institutes, which is intended to promote and support the growth of the HIA field.

 Below is the press release for the grant:

Funding in South Carolina and Wisconsin will Ensure Health is Considered in Comprehensive Neighborhood Planning and Decisions Related to Transitional Jobs Programs  

April 3, 2012, New Orleans, LA: 

The National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, have awarded funding to South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health (SCIMPH) and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) to serve as models of public health institutes conducting Health Impact Assessments (HIAs). Their work forms an integral part of NNPHI and the Health Impact Project's broader initiative, Increasing the National Capacity for HIAs: Utilizing the Nation's Public Health Institutes, which is intended to promote and support the growth of the HIA field. Currently, NNPHI is funding two regional training centers at the Georgia Health Policy Center and the Oregon Public Health Institute to provide training and technical assistance on HIA. 

An HIA is a type of study that helps decision-makers identify the likely health impacts of a decision in another field. "HIAs have gained increased attention as a tool for considering health in decision making. The increased focus on HIAs is due to the recent Institute of Medicine report,For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability; National Prevention Council's focus on health in all policies; and overwhelming interest in the inaugural National HIA Meeting (April 3-4, 2012 in Washington, DC). "HIAs are a tool for supporting health in all policies, which public health institutes support as an important approach to improving health outcomes," says Erin Marziale, MPH, Program Manager for NNPHI.  

Public health institutes (PHIs) are nonprofit organizations that improve the public's health by fostering innovation, leveraging resources, and building partnerships across sectors, including government agencies, communities, the health care delivery system, media, and academia. PHIs address current and emerging health issues by providing expertise in areas like fiscal/administrative management; population-based health program delivery; health policy development, implementation, and evaluation; training and technical assistance; research and evaluation; health information services; health communications and social marketing; and convening/partnering.  

By conducting model HIAs, the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute add to the growing number of PHIs participating in the Increasing National Capacity for HIAs project, leveraging the NNPHI membership's geographic diversity, scientific credibility, policy expertise, multi-sectoral partnerships, and emerging leadership in the field of HIA. In South Carolina, the HIA will inform the City of Greenville's Planning Commission and City Council in the development of their comprehensive plan. The HIA will ensure a focus on health related to decisions regarding parks, green spaces, and trails. In Wisconsin, the HIA will inform decisions related to transitional jobs programs. The HIA will examine the potential health impacts of the jobs program, including outcomes such as mental health, violence, and community health.